Hosted by film critic and broadcaster Anna Smith, Girls On Film is a film review podcast that looks at film from a female perspective. It was co-founded by HLA Agency and Anna Smith in response to a call for more female voices in film criticism. 

Voted No. 1 Feminist Film Podcast by Stylist Magazine and nominated for Best Live Podcast at the British Podcast Awards, the shows combines film reviews, panel discussions with female film critics, and interviews with actors, directors, activists and industry professionals. 

Girls On Film is an HLA Agency production, executive produced by Hedda Archbold and audio produced by Jane Long

Listen on Spotify, SoundCloud and more – or subscribe here.

In this episode filmmaker Ondi Timoner joins Anna Smith to talk about her new documentary, Last Flight Home, sharing with Anna how the documentary came to be, her personal journey throughout the making of it, and the impact that the film is having on audiences. They also talk about her journey to becoming a filmmaker, and her experience of being a woman in the industry.

Last Flight Home is a beautifully moving and deeply personal account of her, and her close-knit family’s, experience as it follows them as their extraordinary father chooses to end his own life following a long illness. The film explores Eli Timoner’s life, his past as the co-founder of Air Florida, and his decision to exercise his right to die with dignity.

Ondi Timoner’s Last Flight Home will be in UK cinemas from Friday 25th November 2022.

What’s your leadership style? Just one of the questions answered by our impressive panellists at the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival, where festival director Sandra Lipski invited Girls On Film to host a panel discussion on Women and Leadership, with a focus on the creative and business side of the industry.

Four high profile industry women joined Anna Smith on stage at the Fondacio Sa Nostra in Palma on 29 October 2022. In this recording, you can hear our guests talking about how they got started in the industry, the importance of mentorship and diversity, and how to lead well with compassion, heart and humour.

Panellists are Lee Broda, founder and CEO of LB Entertainment and producer of Call Jane, whose film premiered at EMIFF the night before our panel; Teresa Fernández-Valdés, co-founder and co-director of Bambú Producciones, who were the first company in Spain to make shows for the streaming platforms and have grown rapidly over the past 15 years; Uzma Hasan, film producer at Little House Productions, whose feature Creature directed by Asif Kapadia with choreographer Akram Khan is about to be released in the UK; and finally Kirsten Niehuus, who holds the purse strings at Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg as their CEO of Film Funding.

The conversation about women in leadership roles in the film industry takes some surprising turns and is inspiring, wise and funny.

Director Phyllis Nagy and stars Elizabeth Banks and Wunmi Mosaku join Anna to talk about the inspiring new film CALL JANE.

CALL JANE follows Joy, played by Elizabeth Banks, a woman whose life-threatening pregnancy leads her to seek help from the ‘Janes’, an underground collective. In Chicago during the 1960s, a group of extraordinary women came together to secretly provide nearly 12,000 women and girls with safe abortions. Sigourney Weaver features as Virginia, the founding member of the female activist group, along with Wunmi Mosaku as Gwen, and a fantastic wider ensemble cast.

In this episode, Nagy and Banks talk about how they learned of the ‘Janes’, discussing the importance of activism through art, and the pertinence of CALL JANE in the wake of the US Supreme Court overruling the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case. They also talk about establishing the tone of this comedy-drama that is as entertaining as it is empowering.

Anna also speaks with Wunmi Mosaku about her personal motivation for being a part of the project, and about CALL JANE through a lens of race, both in the reality of the ‘Janes’, but also in the telling of the story today. She also shares her joy about working with the group of women who play the ‘Janes’.

UK listeners can watch CALL JANE in cinemas from 4th November 2022.

Billy Eichner, Luke Macfarlane and Nicholas Stoller join Anna Smith for this episode to talk about BROS, the first romantic comedy from a major film studio about two gay men, produced by Judd Apatow and directed and co-written by Nicholas Stoller.

Billy co-wrote and stars in this funny, refreshing rom-com alongside Luke Macfarlane who plays the macho lawyer Aaron, who Billy’s character Bobby just might fall for. Billy and Nicholas, who co-wrote and directed the film, talk to Anna about their decision to bring LGBTQ+ representation into the mainstream, with central characters who are gay, lesbian, trans and bisexual – both on screen and in real life.

UK listeners can watch BROS in cinemas from Friday 28 October 2022.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Anna Smith discuss HALLOWEEN ENDS, the final chapter in the HALLOWEEN horror franchise, directed by David Gordon Green and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak and Kyle Richards. Anna is also joined by Executive Producer Hedda Archbold to talk about the best films featured at this season’s film festivals.

Anna speaks to Jamie Lee Curtis about her experience playing Laurie Strode and how she perceives feminism in regard to the character. Jamie also highlights how her success as an actress in her 60s defies the idea that older women aren’t getting great parts, and she talks to her aversion to the ‘anti-ageing’ lobby, and abouther commitment to looking real – both on screen and off. Jamie also discusses the way in which her character in HALLOWEEN ENDS manages the trauma she has endured.
Hedda Archbold joins Anna to consider their favourite releases from the recent film festival season and suggest upcoming female-focused films to look out for.

UK listeners can watch HALLOWEEN ENDS in UK cinemas from Friday 14 October 2022.

In this episode of Girls On Film Anna Smith explores GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS, a Finnish coming-of-age film directed by Alli Haapasalo, starring Aamu Milonoff, Linnea Leino and Eleonoora Kauhanen.

Anna talks to Alli Haapasalo about her fresh perspective on stepping into adulthood and navigating sexual desire alongside discussing her motivations, her casting process and narrative choices. Alli also talks about the role of female characters on screen and why her film is an antidote to the all too common trope of women as victims.

UK listeners can watch GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS in UK cinemas from Friday 30 September 2022

In this episode we focus on two female-run film festivals coming up in October: the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival.

Anna Smith speaks to Sandra Lipski, founder and director of EMIFF, and Tricia Tuttle, director of festivals at the BFI and director of the LFF about what is coming up. The festivals share not only a female focus with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion, but unlike some film fests, they are open to audiences, rather than industry only. Girls On Film will be hosting a live event at EMIFF on Women in Leadership so if you fancy a week in Mallorca watching and discussing films, do join us there!

The BFI London Film Festival runs from 5-16th October 2022 – select titles are showing around the UK.

In this episode of Girls On Film Anna Smith does a deep dive into MR. MALCOLM’S LIST, a new release starring Zawe Ashton, Freida Pinto and Sope Dirisu, directed by Emma Holly Jones in her feature debut.

Anna talks to Emma Holly Jones about this Regency RomCom with a difference: about what it takes to get a first feature made, about historical accuracy versus depicting diverse female agency on screen and about casting and working with Freida Pinto and Zawe Ashton during lockdown.

Zawe Ashton joins Anna to talk about playing Julia Thistlewaite in MR. MALCOLM’S LIST opposite Freida Pinto as Selina Dalton. Zawe talks about her view of the film’s narrative, the pleasure of working with Freida Pinto and the other women in the film, and on making a movie in which female friendship is as important as the love interest.

UK listeners can watch MR. MALCOLM’S LIST in cinemas from 26 August 2022.

In this special episode recorded with an audience at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2022, Girls On Film celebrate EIFF’s 75th anniversary with an all-star line-up including Julia Davis, Jackie van Beek and Armağan Ballantyne from NUDE TUESDAY; director and co-writer of ZUHAL Nazli Elif Durlu; EIFF 2022’s Creative Director Kristy Matheson, and film critics Wendy Mitchell and Finn Halligan.

First up, the NUDE TUESDAY team talks about their mutual obsessions with each others’ work, non-sexual nudity on screen and developing a new language for the film.

Next on stage is Kristy Matheson, the Creative Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2022, who tells Anna how she selects a festival programme, and outlines her top picks from this 75th edition of the festival.

The director of ZUHAL Nazli Elif Durlu then joins Anna and Kristy to share how she developed her film after meeting someone who heard cat noises in her apartment, which no one else could hear.

Finally, critics Finn Halligan and Wendy Mitchell join Anna on stage to discuss their 2022 festival picks. From the audience, Antonia Campbell-Hughes shares some insight on her directorial debut IT IS IN US ALL.

Films, Television productions and directors mentioned in this episode include: THE BREAKER UPPERERS, NIGHTY NIGHT, HUMAN REMAINS, NUDE TUESDAY, SIGHTSEERS, AAAAAAAAH!, NOTHING COMPARES, ZUHAL, KINUYO TANAKA, STILL WORKING 9 TO 5, LOLA, AFTERSUN, CLEAN, IT IS IN US ALL.

You can listen to the Nude Tuesday podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/the-nude-tuesday-podcast/id1630048038