Action Women... In a Day

15 TBC

Black women have a unique representative journey in film. Travelling from the servitude of 1915’s The Birth Of A Nation (Dir. D.W. Griffiths), through to the ‘bad mamma’ icons of the Blaxploitation genre, landing on today’s images that fulfil at least some of the archetypes of the action, superhero characteristics.

Some of these women include Halle Berry as The X Men’s Storm (since 2000); Viola Davis as head-honcho Amanda Waller in The Suicide Squad (2016/2021); Lashana Lynch donning the iconic 007 moniker (if only for a short while) in No Time To Die (2021), and Danai Gurira making her indelible mark as the character Michonne in arguably one of the most globally recognised television series, The Walking Dead (2010/2024) - not to mention Danai’s further role as general of the Dora Milaje in the world of the Black Panther.

Join us for a day long deep dive as we investigate how Black women carved out their own space in a genre that was already hostile to women as a whole, with feature films The Woman King (2022) and Proud Mary (2018), a surprise short and enlightening presentations by Jennifer Robinson (Women of the Lens film festival).

We’ll take a look at how characterisation and narrative shapes these stories, some of the socio-political contexts and behind the scenes happenings as well as exploring some of the actresses and their own industry autonomy.

SCHEDULE:

10am – Introductory Talk

10.30am – The Woman King

12.45pm – Lunch

1.15pm – Next Talk

1.45pm – Mystery Short Film

2.05pm – Next Talk

2.40pm – Proud Mary

4.20pm – Concluding Talk

4.40pm - Break

5.20pm – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

While the talks are interactive, you’ll be invited to participate at a level that works for you: join friendly group discussions, or just sit back and listen. This is a limited capacity event so please book tickets in advance. 

Tickets are £35 and include entry to all talks and films – including our public screening of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever the same evening – as well as free hot drinks served throughout the day.

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This Hyde Park Film School event is part of the wider ‘Burning Rubber, Crossing Borders’ season supported by the University of Leeds and funded by BFI Art of Action.