Director Carol Morley joins Anna Smith to talk about her #FridayFilmClub, the weekly watch party uniting film fans during lockdown. She shares heartwarming stories about the way it’s brought cinema lovers together, and explains how gender and diversity inform her film choices. She also gives an update on her upcoming films and tells how she discovered a young Florence Pugh while casting The Falling, revealing details of the schoolgirl’s incredible audition.

Three listeners who responded to our #LittleWomenBookClub invitation join Anna from their homes across the world. From the Netherlands, mother and daughter Lauri and Julia explain how the book has been passed down the generations in their family, and in the UK, 13-year-old Hannah gives her verdict after picking up the book for the first time.

Finally, Total Film magazine’s Editor-In-Chief, Jane Crowther, returns to Girls On Film to review three new digital releases: female spy thriller The Rhythm Section starring Blake Lively, erotic psychodrama Who You Think I Am starring Juliette Binoche, and buddy comedy Like A Boss, starring Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne and Salma Hayek.

Film critic Hanna Flint is joined by her mother, former MP Caroline Flint, to discuss Little Women – the book and the film.

The pair chat with host Anna Smith about their personal relationship with Louisa May Alcott’s novel and Greta Gerwig’s adaptation, and the story’s relevance to modern day feminism.

In our latest Isolation Pod, Hanna and Caroline also share their recommendations for home viewing. They reveal which films they have watched the most times, and review two new digital releases: Love Wedding Repeat and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Anna also interviews Hollie Fraser, the founder of Books on the Underground, who shares her stories about working with Emma Watson.

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Actors Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells join Anna Smith for a lively discussion about films, friendship, nostalgia, and the notion of ‘strong women’.

The pair take us behind the scenes in their TV series Doll & Em, and talk about Good Posture, Dolly’s directorial debut starring Emily as a reclusive writer living in New York. Dolly also discusses Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Emily reveals the connection between The Newsroom and Doll & Em.

The second of Girls On Film’s special ‘Isolation Pods’, this episode also features Doll and Em’s recommendations for home viewing, from family favourites to edgy new gems on streaming.

In the first of a series of ‘Isolation Pods’ recorded online in our virtual studio, our host Anna Smith is joined by pioneering Saudi director Haifaa al-Mansour and Managing Director of Modern Films Eve Gabereau for a special discussion of al-Mansour’s new feature The Perfect Candidate – set for digital release this Friday 27 March.

We’re also joined by British-Bahraini trumpet player and composer Yazz Ahmed, who dedicated an original piece to al-Mansour, to discuss the power of music in the feature.

Our guest critic is Linda Marric, writer and broadcaster, regular contributor to The Jewish Chronicle, and reviews editor for HeyUGuys. Linda, Eve and Anna review new digital releases The Truth and Vivarium, as well as discussing the newly adapted BFI Flare LGBTIQ+ film festival.

The panel also discuss the challenges and adaptations facing the film industry, and how you can continue to support it from your sofa through these difficult times. Plus, our guests share their isolation movie recommendations to provide comfort, entertainment, and community through this unsettling period.

An International Women’s Day special sees host Anna Smith joined by BAFTA-winning Misbehaviour director Philippa Lowthorpe to discuss Misbehaviour, the new film about the infamous Women’s Liberation protests at the 1970 Miss World Competition.

Anna also welcomes Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis), the Oscar-nominated director of the Marie Curie biopic Radioactive, and actress Kerry Fox (Shallow Grave), currently in Little Joe. Completing the panel is Contributing Editor of Screen International, Wendy Mitchell, to discuss the films Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Military Wives.

All this plus surprise special guests in the audience.

Director Marielle Heller joins host Anna Smith for a special mini-episode devoted to her new film, A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood, starring Matthew Rhys and Tom Hanks.

Heller reveals the story behind casting Hanks as legendary children’s TV presenter Fred Rogers, and discusses the need for compassionate filmmaking. She also talks about following The Diary Of A Teenage Girl with the Oscar-winning Can You Ever Forgive Me? – and explains why Oscar voters need to change their views on directing. 

Director Sarah Gavron (Suffragette) joins Anna Smith on stage at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2020 for an inspiring conversation about female film collaborations and her gritty new teen movie, Rocks. Her associate director, Anu Henriques, reveals a new initiative supporting industry newcomers, and top Dutch film critics Dana Linssen and Lauren Murphy review three new releases with Anna.

First up is Bombshell, starring Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman. How does it represent the Time’s Up cause, and would it have been different directed by a woman?

Next up is The Long Walk, an atmospheric genre film from Mattie Do, the first female filmmaker to come from Laos. Finally, the critics dodge spoilers while dissecting the cult hit Parasite from director Bong Joon Ho.

All this plus a stimulating discussion about the lack of female directors in contention at Oscars 2020… No wonder the audience had plenty of questions and comments!

Live in the last of our series of six episodes from HOME Manchester, Anna reviews a vintage year of stellar guests and compelling conversation for Girls On Film, and looks ahead at what 2020 has in store. With Sight & Sound’s 50 films of the year topped by Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir, and initiatives from the F-Rating to Bumble’s Female Film Force going from strength to strength, we’re here to help drive the vanguard of female filmmaking into the new year.

We sit down with BIFA-winning and BAFTA-nominated director Harry Wootliff to discuss her strikingly intimate debut feature Only You. Joined too by Doctor Who screenwriter and playwright Joy Wilkinson, the panel discusses the challenges writer-directors still face in bringing complex women to the screen.

Clarisse Loughrey, chief film critic at The Independent, also joins Anna to review new releases Charlie’s Angels, Judy & Punch, and Marriage Story as we approach awards season.

In a festive film twist, our three guests bring their picks of classic Christmas cinema to the table for scrutiny through a gendered lens ̶ from high-risers The Apartment and Die Hard, to the spiky Edward Scissorhands, via the yellow brick road of The Wizard Of Oz.

Aislinn Clarke and Bronagh Taggart join host Anna Smith in episode 24 of Girls On Film, recorded in front of a live audience at the 30th Cinemagic Festival in Belfast.

Actress and writer Bronagh Taggart talks about her short film Guard, her love of sports movies, and about her BBC TV series Millie Inbetween and Flatmates, now on BBC iPlayer. She also talks about her very first ever acting role – with Daniel Day-Lewis.

Writer-director Aislinn Clarke has just received the second Academy Gold Fellowship for Women for her horror film The Devil’s Doorway. She joins us fresh from Los Angeles to talk about her film and about her view of horror as a means of addressing social trauma. She gives encouragement to women who want to work in the industry by drawing on her own experience of starting out as a 17-year old single working class Belfast mum.

Aislinn talks about two of her upcoming horror projects, Cunning Folk which she directs, and Slow Burn which she pens and is produced by Marianne Maddalena, who also produced all of Wes Craven’s films including Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street.

We review current releases Maleficent: Mistress of Evil with Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer, discussing its design, its gender stereotyping and what it says about motherhood. We also review Home, by Sarah Outen, who undertook the mammoth task of travelling the circumference of the world powered only by herself. We also discuss some favourite classic movies, including In The Name Of The Father, Bridesmaids, The Craft and All About Eve.

Episode 23 marks our first birthday, and Anna is joined by Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis and Natalia Reyes for an exclusive interview about Terminator: Dark Fate, discussing everything from action women on film to race, nudity and time travel.  

On stage at HOME in Manchester, Anna is joined by Pamela Hutchinson and Anna Bogutskaya, who both contributed to soon to be published She Found It At The Movies: Women Writers on Sex, Desire and Cinema. The panel assess the new film Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix, plus female desire in films such as Magic Mike, The Last Seduction and Thelma & Louise. They also give their tips for awards season 2020, debating which movies meet the ‘three cry’ test and which film is ’near-perfect’.  

Finally the audience at HOME have pressing questions about Joker, awards categories and how best to champion female-focused cinema.  

Pamela Hutchinson is a freelance writer, critic and film historian who contributes regularly to Sight & Sound, The Guardian, Criterion, Indicator and the BBC, specialising in silent cinema and women in film. Anna Bogutskaya is a film programmer, writer, event producer and podcaster. She is Head of Arts and Culture at DICE, Festival Director of BAFTA-recognised Underwire Festival, co-host of The Bigger Picture podcast and co-founder of horror film collective The Final Girls.