International Women's Day (IWD), held on Wednesday 8 March 2023 is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of all women with this year's theme being 'Embrace Equity'. Equity is the quality of being fair, impartial or just according to quantity, value, rank or ability. So this is ensuring that women and marginalized genders are given resources and opportunities to allow them to reach an equal outcome.
Below is a guide to various film and arts events accessible to those in the Leeds region that we will keep updated throughout March.
If you are hosting a film-related event for IWD during this month please let us know at leeds.film@leeds.gov.uk.
Leeds Film Player - LIFF Selects
Specially selected films from the LIFF Team, available to watch right now online through our Leeds Film Player from as little as £3.50 per film! Picks include Kate Dolan's Irish folklore horror You Are Not My Mother, and the electric French body-horror drama from Julia Ducournau Titane.
Yorkshire Film Archive: Born a Rebel - Full Film
The film, made up of footage from the Yorkshire, North East and North West Film Archives, was made in response to the lack of women’s voices in the archives. Stories of rebellion. Stories of bravery. Stories of women who aren’t waiting for permission to take what they want. The title was inspired by the words of Mrs Elizabeth Dean, who, still a proud suffragette at 100 years old, told the camera, “Between you and I, I think I must have been born a rebel!”
LIFF Presents: Angry Annie
Set in the French countryside in 1974, Angry Annie is a warm and inspiring film about female solidarity. The film features an empathetic performance by Laure Calamy (Call My Agent) as Annie, a working mother of two teenagers who accidentally becomes pregnant. She meets with the Movement for the Liberation of Abortion and Contraception (MLAC); doctors and women who perform illegal abortions in the public eye, practicing a free, safe and respectful method. Gradually Annie joins their battle, which will bring a new meaning to her life.
International Women's Day Extravaganza
Hosted by Sarah Autumn and Denetta Copeland (LOUDSPEAKER Live) at Leftbank Leeds, this event will highlight the extraordinary work of women's organisations in Leeds, provide a safe and creative space to connect and entertain with poetry, music and comedy. The event will be three hours long (7pm-10pm), two hours of which (7.30pm-9.30pm) will be live streamed for online access. There will be an opportunity to connect with the organisations, performers and other people attending before and after the livestream.
Films at Heart: Shooting the Mafia
Award winning documentary directed by Kim Longinotto and staring Sicilian photographer Letizia Battaglia, who documented the life and crimes of the Mafia in and around Palermo. Battaglia bore witness to life under their rule, her photography and bravery helped to bring an end to their violent reign.
In celebration of International Women's Day 2023, The Telling is releasing the film adaptions of its Empowered Women Trilogy concert plays (where music and theatre collide). Into the Melting Pot, Vision, and Unsung Heroine.
A double feature combining classic and contemporary takes on the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp. In an evening of cutting edge documentary making, we bring you Women Against the Bomb, a prize-winning look at the impact of the Greenham Women. Linked by guest speakers who feature in the films and artists from Scary Little Girls and Greenham Women Everywhere.
Otley Women Together: The Camera is Ours
Otley Women Together and Otley Film Society present a compilation of short films made by women between 1935 and 1967 and restored by the BFI National Archive and The Film Foundation. Beginning with Marion Grierson's lyrical film Beside the Seaside, They Also Serve, Ruby Grierson's dramatised documentary dedicated to 'the Housewives of Britain'. A public information film by Brigid 'Budge' Cooper, Birthday explores the mysteries of maternity while Kay Mander's powerful Homes for the People has working-class women describing their own lives. Finally, the psychedelic spirit of the 60s is ushered in by Sarah Erulkar's Something Nice to Eat featuring Jean Shrimpton.
An all day event hosted by Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracey Brabin. The conference will cover topics including the menopause, creating a safer and fairer future for women and girls and breaking into male dominated industries including BAFTA winning writer Sally Wainwright, co-author of Cracking the Menopause Alice Smellie, lifestyle coach Lavina Mehta MBE and founder of Bloody Good Period Gabby Jahanshahi-Edlin.
Women's Quiz & Karaoke Night Fundraiser
An evening for women* only to come along and enjoy a Feminist quiz, prizes and raffle draw and karaoke fun - with proceeds going towards Support After Rape and Sexual Violence Leeds (SARSVL).
*Please note that the venue is a trans inclusive space and also welcome non-binary people who are comfortable in a women-centred space. Although this is a women's event, there may be male staff members at the venue.
Jane Fonda Double Bill and Other IWD Film Picks
Chance to see the quirky classic, and an Oscar winning performance starring Jane Fonda, in The Electric Horseman, and Klute at the Pictureville Cinema in Bradford as part of their IWD Weekend Film Celebration. Other top female features screening throughout March include, Oscar Nominated Women Talking, BAFTA winning films Aftersun and Tar and Joyland.
Spoken word and DJ Set w/BBC Radio DJ Sile Sibanda
Spoken word poet & BBC RADIO Sheffield DJ Sile Sibanda DJ SET and open mic: in association with Nabeelah Ahmed’s online poetry participants.
Bad Owl Presents - The Straight Girl: Film Screening, and Performance
The short documentary film paints a colourful, three-dimensional portrait of Leeds-based electronic musician Remy Enceladus, also known as Straight Girl. Through the close relationship that develops between Remy and the camera, the line between home life and stage persona blur beautifully; forming an intimate exploration of identity, feminism, mental health, sexuality and gender - ultimately amalgamating into a visually explosive finale of acceptance, freedom and expression.
Left Bank Doc Club - Lyra + Q&A
The very first Left Bank Doc Club featuring LYRA a documentary feature by Alison Millar. An emotive, intimate film portrait of the life and death of celebrated Northern Irish journalist and LBGTQ+ advocate Lyra McKee, who was shot dead by Irish Dissident Republicans in April 2019 aged 29. They will also be joined by Director Alison Millar for a very special Q&A hosted by Left Bank Trustee Anna Hall of Candour Productions.
Vee Dagger Presents: All Beauty Must Die: Crimson Peak Screening
This one is for the goths! Drag queen and devoted goth Vee Dagger presents Guillermo del Toro’s intricate gothic romance Crimson Peak, a bloody tale of macabre devotion showing off del Toro’s obsession with monstrosity. A forbidding mansion, billowing nightgowns, elaborate candelabras – this movie has it all, and buckets of blood too! Treat yourself to a feast of sumptuous melodrama, featuring a drag cabaret of assorted apparitions after the film.
Resources
International Women's Day
Non-Binary Leeds
Trans Leeds
Leeds Girl Gang
Women Friendly Leeds
Reclaim the Frame
Women in Film and TV
Women, trans and non-binary people/organisations working in film that you can support year-round
Bradford Queer Film Club
Come On In Events
Eleanor Hodson Films
Feel Good Film Club
Iconic Presents
Leeds Queer Film Festival
Milk Teeth Productions
Oxygen Film
Pervert Pictures
Queer Fear
Scream Queens Leeds
She's A Rebel
Slime Presents
Women X Film Festival
Vee Dagger Presents
