Feminist Tendencies
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.
Stephanie Daley (2006)
6.3/10
Director: Hilary Brougher
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Amber Tamblyn, Timothy Hutton, Melissa Leo, Denis O'Hare, Jim Gaf...
Stephanie (Amber Tamblyn) is a 16-year-old girl, charged with concealing a pregnancy and then murdering her newborn child. She claims she knew nothin... Read more
Strangers In Good Company (1990)
7.8/10
Director: Cynthia Scott
Starring: Alice Diabo, Constance Garneau, Winifred Holden
AKA "The Company Of Strangers". Seven elderly women, previously strangers, are forced to spend three days together in a dilapidated house and draw on... Read more
Stripped (2001)
4.9/10
Director: Jill Morley
Receiving enthusiastic receptions at Film Festival screenings, this documentary focuses on the gritty realities of a stripper's life. Writer/director... Read more
Suffragette (2015)
6.9/10
Director: Sarah Gavron
Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Whisha...
With an all-star cast including Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Whishaw and Meryl Streep as Emmeline Pankh... Read more
Sweet Dreams (1985)
7.1/10
Director: Karel Reisz
Starring: Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, Ann Wedgeworth
The true story of Patsy Cline, the gifted, fun-loving queen of Nashville sound, charting the most dramatic years of her efforts to become a top countr... Read more
Sylvia (1985)
6.6/10
Director: Michael Firth
Starring: Eleanor David, Mary Regan, Nigel Terry, Tom Wilkinson
Absorbing story of author-educator Sylvia Ashton-Warner, who brought new educational techniques to the teaching of the Maori students in 1940's New Ze... Read more
Tenko: Series 1 - Episodes 1 - 5 (1981)
8.8/10
Director: Various
Starring: Stephanie Beacham, Ann Bell, Stephanie Cole, Louise Jameson, Eiji Kusuhara, Burt...
In 1941 the terrors of war-torn Europe seem far away for the small community of ex-pat Brits living in Singapore. But their privileged lives are soon... Read more
Tenko: Series 1 - Episodes 6 - 10 (1981)
8.8/10
Starring: Stephanie Beacham, Stephanie Cole, Ann Bell, Louise Jameson, Eiji Kusuhara, Burt...
In 1941 the terrors of war-torn Europe seem far away for the small community of ex-pat Brits living in Singapore. But their privileged lives are soon... Read more
The Accused (1988)
7.1/10
Director: Jonathan Kaplan
Starring: Jodie Foster, Kelly McGillis, Bernie Coulson
A young woman is gang-raped in a bar while onlookers cheer on the attack. The subsequent court trials question her 'easy' lifestyle and whether she in... Read more
The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (2006)
7.4/10
Director: Simon Curtis, Declan Lowney, Catherine Morshead
Starring: Jane Horrocks, Steven Mackintosh, Jodhi May, Janet McTeer, Jemma McKenzie-Brown,...
Jane Horrocks is Ros Pritchard; housewife, supermarket manager, and now, through a fortuitous confluence of events, Prime Minister of Britain. She bri... Read more