This year we have teamed up with The Oxford International Women’s Festival to bring you a special season of classic films written and directed by women. The films, chosen by he Oxford International Women’s Festival, will screen across two weekends in March and will include works by legends of cinema such as Agnes Varda and Jane Campion as well as works by emerging filmmakers such as Deniz Gamze Ergüven. 

The season begins Saturday 5th March with an 20:45 screening of Claudia Weill’s 1978s American cult classic Girlfriends. The film, which was re-released last year, is a comic tale of a photographer trying to make it in New York which was dubbed “a little indie gem and lo-fi miracle” by The Guardian in their five-star review. Other films that first week include Dorothy Arzner’s pioneering 1940s studio comedy Dance, Girl, Dance and French New Wave legend Agnes Varda’s award-winning drama Le Bonheur.

The second week of classics begins on Friday 11th March with Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Oscar-nominated Turkish drama Mustang. The film was released to universal acclaim in 2015 and follows the lives of a group of sisters living under the oppressive cloud of religious conservatism. That weekend we will also be screening Julie Dash’s groundbreaking vision of black womanhood Daughters of the Dust (the first film directed by an African American woman to receive a wide cinema release), and Jane Campion’s Palme d’Or winning tale of desire, 1993’s The Piano.

Full listings for the season and booking links for each film underneath:

• Girlfriends – Saturday 5th March 20:45
• Dance, Girl, Dance – Sunday 6th March 16:00
• Le Bonheur – Monday 7th March 18:30
• Mustang – Friday 11th March 20:45
• Daughters of the Dust – Saturday 12th March 16:00
• The Piano – Sunday 13th March 18:00

Want to watch all six classics? If you purchase tickets to all six screenings in a single transaction, you will receive a 20% discount on the total cost.

As part of the festivities, we’ll also be hosting a one-off screening of the documentary Be Natural: the Untold Story of Alice Guy Blache on International Women’s Day (Tuesday 8th March, 18:15). The film offers a fascinating look at the life of French director and pioneer of cinema Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968) who is credited with being the first woman filmmaker. This one-off screening will be followed by a panel discussion led by the organisers of the Oxford International Women’s Festival. More info: https://uppcinema.com/show/be-natural-the-untold-story-of-alice-guy-blache/

For more information on this year’s wider Oxford International Women’s Festival, visit their website: https://oiwf.org/2022-festival/