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.
Lady Bird (Blu-ray) (2017)
7.5/10
Director: Greta Gerwig
Starring: Laurie Metcalf, Lois Smith, Saoirse Ronan, Odeya Rush, Tracy Letts, Timothee Cha...
Christine "Lady Bird" MacPherson is a high school senior from the "wrong side of the tracks." She longs for adventure, sophistication, and opportunity... Read more
If These Walls Could Talk (1996)
7.1/10
Director: Cher , Nancy Savoca
Starring: Anne Heche, Cher , Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek
Three different stories of women faced with unwanted pregnancies are the focus of this powerful film. In 1952 Demi Moore is a recently widowed nurse i... Read more
If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000)
7.1/10
Director: Martha Coolidge, Jane Anderson, Anne Heche
Starring: Vanessa Redgrave, Chloe Sevigny, Michelle Williams, Ellen DeGeneres, Sharon Ston...
The lives of three lesbian couples are explored in stories set in the same house over three different decades. First, Vanessa Redgrave must deal with... Read more
Commander in Chief: The Inaugural Edition (2005)
6.8/10
Director: Daniel Attias, Rod Lurie
Starring: Geena Davis, Donald Sutherland, Harry Lennix, Kyle Secor, Ever Carradine, Matt L...
Geena Davis becomes America's first female president, Mackenzie 'Mac' Allen, following the death of the elected candidate. Facing all the usual probl... Read more
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
At Home with the Braithwaites: Series 2 (2001)
6.8/10
Director: Dan Zeff, Morag Fullarton, David Innes Edwards
Starring: Lynda Bellingham, Peter Davison, Amanda Redman, Sylvia Syms, Sarah Smart
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
The Keeping Room (2014)
6/10
Director: Daniel Barber
Starring: Sam Worthington, Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld, Muna Otaru
Left without men in the dying days of the American Civil war, three Southern women - two sisters and one African-American slave - must fight to defend... Read more
Yes Madam, Sir (2008)
8.6/10
Director: Megan Doneman
Filmed in India over six years and narrated by Academy Award winning actor, Helen Mirren, "Yes Madam, Sir" is an epic story profiling Asia Nobel Prize... Read more
Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005)
6.6/10
Director: Darnell Martin
Starring: Halle Berry, Michael Ealy, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Nicki Micheaux, Lorraine Touss...
Based on Zora Neale Hurston's classic novel and executive produced by Oprah Winfrey, this Emmy-nominated TV drama stars Halle Berry as the free-spirit... Read more
Walking and Talking (1996)
6.8/10
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Starring: Todd Field, Anne Heche, Catherine Keener, Kevin Corrigan
Two young women who have been best friends since grade school and helped each other through a series of romantic crises find the future of their relat... Read more