 Initiated in 1972, the London Women's Film Group came together through an
advertisement placed by Midge McKenzie, who was inspired by a screening of
women's liberation films at the London Film School. Following a number of
skill-sharing workshops, the group eventually consisted of Esther Ronay, Susan
Shapiro, Francine Winham, Fran MacLean, Barbara Evans, Linda Wood and Midge
McKenzie. The members were by background sculptors, painters or photographers who were
beginning to refocus their energies towards making film. Critical of the
hierarchical and autocratic methods employed by conventional film crews, they
worked collectively, in particular on The Amazing Equal Pay Show (1974),
swapping roles of camera operator, lighting, sound etc. Their argument was that
"a film should not be judged on its own merit regardless of the oppression that
went into its making."
The group actively campaigned for equal opportunities within the ACTT.
Members wrote articles collectively about their experiences, and at the
Edinburgh Film Festival's week-long women's event, organised by Linda Myles in
1972, LWFG was offered the opportunity to film for BBC2's film night. The
members seized the opportunity to show their all-female crew at work, while
Laura Mulvey and Claire Johnston, joint organisers of the festival, spoke to
camera about the purpose of the festival and introduced a selection of clips
from the films.
The Group distributed its productions on the same basis on which it had
formed - "we would like our films to be part of an ongoing process of discussion
and action." The group would endeavour to have somebody present at screenings to
facilitate these discussions. Productions included Miss/Mrs (1972), which
explored differing images of women, Serve and Obey (1972), in which schoolgirls
discuss the irrelevance of education, and Bettshanger Kent (1972), documenting a
miner's wife active in organising women in a Kent mining village.
Emma Hedditch
|
FILM & TV CREDITS
