The Camera is Ours

PG

Join us for an evening of short documentaries by pioneering female directors, beginning in 1935 and concluding in 1967, these new digital restorations offer insightful snapshots into selected moments in British history.

There will be an introduction by Sophie Duncan, who is the Industry Programmer at Sheffield Doc Fest, a co-creator of Women X Festival, and has worked for many other festivals including IDFA, Leeds International Film Festival, BFI Flare, Open City Documentary Festival, London Short Film Festival.

Sophie will also host a post-screening interactive discussion with an industry panel, which will reflect on past and present documentary filmmaking and the importance of ethics and filmmaker responsibility within the genre.

“The trouble with you is that you look at things as though they were in a goldfish bowl. I’m going to break your goldfish bowl” Ruby Grierson, to her brother John.

John Grierson is sometimes referred to as the father of British documentary and credited with coining the term documentary itself. But from the beginning, female innovators were at work within the genre, including Grierson’s own sisters Ruby and Marion, and we’re delighted to showcase their work alongside that of other pioneering female documentary makers in this revelatory programme of new digital restorations.

Beside the Seaside (1935) which uses a witty array of techniques to stylish effect.

They Also Serve (1940) Ruby Grierson’s dramatised documentary is dedicated to “the Housewives of Britain”.

Birth-day (1945) A public information film by Brigid ‘Budge’ Cooper, exploring the mysteries of maternity.

Homes for the People (1945) Kay Mander’s powerful use of the then radical technique of allowing working-class women to describe their own lives.