Feminism as a concept has gone in and out of vogue since the first suffragette demanded the right to vote, but throughout history there have always been remarkable women, prepared to claim their power in the name of a cause ('Ride to Freedom: The Rosa Parks Story', 'Veronica Guerin'), or just to rediscover their own self-worth ('Shirley Valentine', 'My Brilliant Career'). This collection does not only contain films about the political struggle of women to achieve equality ('Iron Jawed Angels'), if it did it would be a very short list because despite the fact that the rise of women in the workforce and in politics was one of the defining movements of the 20th century, very few films have been made on the subject - filmmaking being still a largely male-dominated pusuit. Now, as women are making films in greater numbers than ever, our own Niki Caro is a good example of someone ready and willing to tell a story about the oppression, and ultimate triumph of women in the 'post-feminist' 1980s ('North Country'). Perhaps women as an audience are now ready and willing to hear their own stories.
In 1979 Santa Barbara, Calif., Dorothea Fields is a determined single mother in her mid-50s who is raising her adolescent son, Jamie, at a moment brim... Read more
Set in 1980s Bucharest during Ceaucescu's brutal reign, this intense drama centres on two young women, one of whom finds herself pregnant. Her best fr... Read more
Martin Scorsese directs a subtle masterpiece that transforms the struggle of one woman into a memorable symbol of liberation and courage. Stars Ellen... Read more
Jane Campion's remarkable award-winning film based on the autobiographical writing of Janet Frame is a portrait of a sweet-natured, imaginative, painf... Read more
In an Oscar and Bafta-nominated performance, Jill Clayburgh plays a New York art gallery worker trying to cope with life after her husband walks out o... Read more
Marleen Gorris' winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film centres on an elderly woman who recalls her life in a small Dutch village on the day... Read more
Marleen Gorris' winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film centres on an elderly woman who recalls her life in a small Dutch village on the day... Read more
When housewife Alison (Amanda Redman) wins the lottery, she keeps her winnings a closely guarded secret for fear that it will corrupt her family. Mean... Read more
With her secret out, Alison sees that her fears about the lottery windfall were justified. The family moves into a gaudy mansion she hates, David plan... Read more
In the fourth and final season, Alison and David begin bitter divorce proceedings making family relations more strained than ever. There are some inte... Read more