This episode of Girls On Film comes from Cannes, where Anna Smith speaks to Jane Crowther and Wendy Mitchell about their Film Festival highlights. Anna hosts the very first Girls On Film party at The Members Club, and speaks to some of the guests about their work at the festival and which films they’ve enjoyed.

First up, Anna takes us through the soundscape of Cannes and walks the red carpet for Emilia Perez. Anna joins the Women in Film and TV yacht party, to hear CEO Katie Bailiff’s speech, before heading to MUBI’s beach party. It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Then Anna invites film journalists Jane Crowther and Wendy Mitchell to discuss the films they’ve seen in Cannes so far, which include Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Megalopolis, The Girl With the Needle and On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, as well as Andrea Arnold’s Bird, Wild Diamond, and feminist comedy horror The Balconettes.

Jane talks about her new role as editor-in-chief of Hollywood Authentic, a new luxury, glossy magazine, and Wendy discusses her portfolio of projects including the upcoming Sundance London, and San Sebastian Film Festivals.

Wendy and Anna are both on the Palm Dog judging panel for Best Canine on screen, so naturally the conversation turns to the various dogs in films at Cannes. They also discuss the impact of #MeToo and Time’s Up, and recent changes at the Cannes Film Festival, including the arrival of signs stating that harassment won’t be tolerated.

Finally, we join Anna at The Members Club for Girls On Film’s own Cannes party. We hear from a few of the guests, who include Akua Gyamfi of The British Blacklist and Dame Heather Rabbats of Time’s Up, who talk about the launch of their new initiative around appropriate hair and makeup for diverse requirements on set. Anna also speaks to Nicole Weis of IFC Films, producer and comedienne Ronni Ancona, director Rachel Ramsay, and The Girl With the Needle co-writer Line Langebek Knudsen, and our wonderful supporter, IMDb founder Col Needham.

With special thanks to our sponsors for the party, Rebecca Hawkes at Elstree Studios, HLA Agency, Col Needham at IMDb, and JoJo Dye at JJD Consulting.

And with gratitude to our lovely partners for this episode, Vanessa Smith and Peter Brewer, for their continuing support of the podcast.

Other films mentioned in this episode:

Anatomy of a Fall. (Justine Triet, 2023)
Black Dog (George Jaques, 2023)
Saltburn (Emerald Fennell, 2023)
Santosh (Sandhya Suri, 2024)
The Second Act (Quentin Dupieux, 2024)
The Surfer (Lorcan Finnegan, 2024)
When the Light Breaks (Rúnar Rúnarsson, 2024)

You can listen to the podcast here.

In this episode of Girls On Film, Anna Smith talks about the recent Cinema for Gaza auction with two of the women behind the initiative, Helen Simmons and Julia Jackman, and she reviews some imminent releases with film critic Rhianna Dhillon and film journalist and programmer Cici Peng.

First up Anna speaks with Rhianna Dhillon about Italian box-office hit C’è ancora domani or There’s Still Tomorrow. They discuss the representation of domestic violence in this neorealist-style debut from Paola Cortellesi, and pick up on the film’s surprisingly hopeful feel. Next up they discuss The Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling as a stunt-double and Emily Blunt as a blockbuster director, which is out in UK cinemas on 2 May 2024.

A recent auction raised over £260,000 for Medical Aid for Palestinians or MAP, a charity currently working in Gaza to provide immediate medical aid to those in great need. The auction was an initiative led by film critics Hanna Flint, Leila Latif, and Sophie Monks Kaufman who teamed up with publicist Hannah Farr, and filmmakers Julia Jackman and Helen Simmons. Anna talks with Helen and Julia about the initiative, who also share some insights into the highest-earning lots, which included Annie Lennox’s handwritten lyrics to 1983 hit Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).

Finally, Anna is joined by film journalist and programmer Cici Peng, who shares her thoughts on Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding, and Léa Seydoux’s performance in the upcoming film The Beast. Cici also speaks about her recent archival work to create a programme of hidden gems at Queer East Festival, which showcases queer cinema from East and Southeast Asia and its diaspora.

Films mentioned in this episode:

There’s Still Tomorrow / C’è ancora domani (Paola Cortellesi, 2024)
The Fall Guy (David Leitch, 2024)
Jungle Cruise (Jaume Collet-Serral, 2021)
The Devil Wears Prada (David Frankel, 2006)
Ordinary Angels (Jon Gunn, 2024)
Hoard (Luna Carmoon, 2024)
Abigail (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, 2024)
Bonus Track (Julia Jackman, 2024)
Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass, 2024)
The Beast / La bête (Bertrand Bonello, 2024)
The River / He liu (Tsai Ming-liang, 1997)
Bye Bye Love / Baibai rabu (Isao Fujisawa, 1974)

You can buy Cinema for Gaza merchandise until 7 May 2024 via the links below:
www.weareprintsocial.com/campaigns/ci…a-for-gaza-2
www.weareprintsocial.com/campaigns/cinema-for-gaza

You can listen to the podcast here.

In this episode of Girls On Film we give you a flavour of the third Girls On Film Awards, our annual celebration of women in film which this year took place at our new home, Regent Street Cinema in London.

We launched the awards to celebrate excellence in women-focused films, and to honour women and non-binary filmmakers.

Girls On Film provides an inclusive platform for the voices of diverse women and people of marginalised genders, and we have a mission: to bring about industry-wide change, and to work toward equal representation of women in the film industry: on screen, and behind the camera.

As the saying goes: “if she can see it, she can be it”, and that’s why shining a light on the great work women are making can make a real difference.

Girls On Film host Anna Smith and co-founder Hedda Lornie Archbold hosted the awards together, and were joined by a stellar group of presenters to give out the awards, including Monica Dolan, Ronni Ancona, Sarah Gavron, Mia Bays, Col Needham, Mark Kermode, Nitin Sawhney and more.

The mics didn’t pick up all the sound as well as we’d hoped – but the pod conveys the great atmosphere in the room.

We hope you enjoy the awards!

For a full list of the nominees and winners, you can find the press release on the HLA Website:
hlaagency.co.uk/category/projects…s-on-film-awards/

Contributors to this episode include:
Ronni Ancona
Anthony Andrews
Teanne Andrews
Blair Barnette
Mia Bays
Suzie Davies
Charlotte Dirickx
Monica Dolan
Jacqueline Durran
Melanie Iredale
Ayo Edebiri
Kathryn Ferguson
Jo Fernihough
Kerry Fox
Sarah Gavron
Sarah Greenwood
Priya Kansara
Mark Kermode
Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch
Molly Manning Walker
Nida Manzoor
Col Needham
William Oldroyd
Rose Ryan
Nitin Sawhney
D. Smith
Katie Spencer
Holly Waddington
Paris Zarcilla

Films and television series mentioned in this episode are:
ALL OF US STRANGERS
AMERICAN FICTION
ANATOMY OF A FALL
ANOTHER BODY
BARBIE
THE BEAR
BOTTOMS
BRICK LANE
EILEEN
THE ETERNAL MEMORY
FAIR PLAY
THE FALLING
FILMSTARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL
HOW TO HAVE SEX
JOY RIDE
KOKOMO CITY
LADY MACBETH
MR BATES AND THE POST OFFICE
NOTHING COMPARES
NYAD
PAST LIVES
POLITE SOCIETY
POOR THINGS
THE POWER
PREVENGE
PRIDE
PRISCILLA
RAGING GRACE
RETURN TO SEOUL
ROCKS
RYE LANE
SALTBURN
SCRAPPER
SUFFRAGETTE
TILL
TYPIST ARTIST PIRATE KING
W1A
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
THE ZONE OF INTEREST

You can listen to the podcast here.

In this episode Girls On Film is at the 20th edition of Glasgow Film Festival. Anna Smith sits down with Festival Director Allison Gardner, then has an exclusive interview with the director of Love Lies Bleeding Rose Glass, with Oscar-nominated director of The Teacher Farah Nabulsi, and with BAFTA-nominated director of Edge of Summer Lucy Cohen.

First up, Director of GFF Allison Gardner picks out some of her festival highlights, from Ava DuVernay’s Origin to Viggo Mortensen’s The Dead Don’t Hurt which she describes as a ‘feminist western’. Allison talks about the unique programming at GFF with 126 films included at the festival this year. She picks out the ‘Love is sweet oh!’ strand programmed by Tomiwa Folorunso, the ‘Gestures of Memory’ strand programmed by Natasha Thembiso Ruwona, and ‘What Will the Men Wear?’ programmed by Rosie Beattie.

Next up Anna welcomes back Rose Glass to Girls On Film, who first appeared in Episode 60 to discuss her debut Saint Maud, which also showed at GFF in 2019. This year Rose is back with her hotly-anticipated second feature, Love Lies Bleeding, which had its UK premiere as the Opening Gala film at GFF. With Anna, Rose talks about the ‘dream’ casting of Kristen Stewart as moody heartthrob Lou, who meets amateur bodybuilder Jackie when she turns up in Lou’s sleepy hometown. The pair fall hard for one another and Rose describes crafting their fantastical love story, with co-writer Weronika Tofilska, which has ‘one foot in reality, and one foot somewhere stranger’…

Anna also speaks to Oscar-nominated director Farah Nabulsi, whose debut feature The Teacher is showing at GFF. Anna asked Farah about her journey into filmmaking, from a background in business to directing her first short The Present, which went on to be nominated for the 2021 Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

Finally, Anna speaks with BAFTA-nominated director Lucy Cohen, whose coming-of-age film Edge of Summer tells the story of 11-year-old Evie on holiday in Cornwall in the early 1990s. When she meets local boy Adam, a mysterious discovery down an old tin mine changes everything. Lucy talks to Anna about her influences in exploring childhood on screen, citing Ratcatcher (Lynne Ramsay, 1999) and Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg, 1771), and about her excitement to be showing the film at Glasgow Film Festival.

Thank you to our partners for this episode, Glasgow Film Festival.

The festival runs from 28 February to 10 March.

To buy tickets visit the Glasgow Film Festival website glasgowfilmfest.org/home/

Love Lies Bleeding is in UK cinemas from 3 May 2024.

You can watch The Teacher in Glasgow on Monday 4 March 2024 at 6pm and Tuesday 5 March 2024 at 3.15pm.

You can watch Edge of Summer in Glasgow on Friday 8 March 2024 at 8.30pm and Saturday 9 March 2024 at 3.45pm.

Other films mentioned in the podcast:
The Mask (Charles Russell, 1994)
Origin (Ava DuVernay, 2023)
The Dead Don’t Hurt (Viggo Mortensen, 2024)
Lousy Carter (Bob Byington, 2023)
The Teacher’s Lounge (Ilker Catak, 2023)
Thelma and Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991)
Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg, 1971)
Ratcatcher (Lynne Ramsay, 1999)
The Present (Farah Nabulsi, 2021)
Saint Maud (Rose Glass, 2019)
Girl (Adura Onashile, 2023)
Daisies (Vera Chitylova, 1966)

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the organisation or its affiliates.

You can listen to the podcast here.

This episode features the tenth Oscar winner to appear on Girls On Film. Anna Smith hears from Academy Award winner Olivia Colman who stars opposite Jessie Buckley and Anjana Vasan in the black comedy Wicked Little Letters. She also speaks to the film’s director, Thea Sharrock, and historical consultant Emily Cockayne about bringing this remarkable true story to the big screen.

The film follows two neighbours: conservative local Edith Swan (played by Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (played by Jessie Buckley). When Edith and fellow residents begin to receive the letters, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. Anjana Vasan plays Police Officer Gladys Moss, who suspects that Rose may not be the culprit after all…

Firstly, Anna speaks with Anjana and Thea about balancing the comedy with some of the more poignant moments in the film. They discuss Anjana’s character Gladys Moss, who is based on the first woman Police Officer in Sussex, and talk about the contemporary relevance of poison pen letters.

Next up Anna hears from historical consultant Emily Cockayne, whose book Cheek By Jowl: A History of Neighbours details some of the scandal caused by the Littlehampton case in the 1920s.

Finally, Anna is joined by the two stars of the film, Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckely, who recall their delight in receiving Jonny Sweet’s script. Olivia talks about her background in comedy, and the pair give an insight into the set of Wicked Little Letters when they discuss their musical collaboration.

WICKED LITTLE LETTERS is released in UK and Irish cinemas on 23 February 2024.

You can listen to the podcast here.

As we post this episode, we’re coming up to the third annual Girls On Film Awards 2024. They take place on Tuesday 20 February 2024 at Regent Street Cinema in London. We’ll celebrate the brilliant work made by women in film and will be joined by nominees, industry supporters and listeners.

We give awards in 12 categories, and the undisputed climax of the night will be the award for the category ‘Female Orgasm on Screen, sponsored by Intimacy On Set’ for the second year running. In this episode, Intimacy On Set founder Ita O’Brien talks with Hedda Lornie Archbold, Girls On Film co-founder, about the four nominated films in this category: Fair Play, Joy Ride, Poor Things and Saltburn, as well as about some of the other notable films of the past year.

Ita O’Brien is an Intimacy Coordinator and Movement Director for film, television, and theatre. Since 2014, she has been developing best practice when working with intimacy, scenes with sexual content, and nudity in film, TV, and theatre. Ita pioneered the role of Intimacy Coordinator, which is being adopted in leading production houses, including HBO, Netflix, and the BBC. Ita founded Intimacy on Set to provide trained, professional Intimacy Coordinators to the industry.

Also in this episode, Anna Smith recommends some great films by women filmmakers in the run up to International Women’s Day 2024.

Films mentioned in this episode:
Men Up
Saltburn
Poor Things
Fair Play
Joy Ride
How To Have Sex
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Memory
Four Daughters
Copa 71
Origin

Operas mentioned in this episode:
Anthony and Cleopatra

Television series mentioned in this episode:
Bridgerton
Brave New World

Men Up is on BBC iPlayer
Fair Play is on Netflix
Joy Ride is streaming platforms including Apple TV.
Saltburn is on Prime Video
Poor Things is on streaming platforms including Prime Video and Apple TV from 27 February 2024.

You can listen to the podcast here.