A recent dip in female-led theatrical releases in the UK - back to 2018 levels of 26% reminds us that our work is far from over; that we cannot be complacent.
Below you can read about the research we conduct into gender representation in film and the wider industry, tracking the release landscape to present an accurate picture of investment in films by filmmakers of marginalised genders.
Here you can also find out about news and opportunities at Reclaim The Frame, along with curated film recommendations, filmmaker interviews, and creative responses.
Updated: May 2
By Helen O’Hara
The new film from Nadia Conners, The Uninvited, is fascinating. On one hand, it is a strikingly modern film that has a lot to say about the way that sexism and ageism still shape the stories we are told onscreen, and in fact shape our whole lives. On the other, it’s a talky, contained relationship drama of a sort that is often described as “old-fashioned” or “classic,” and a showcase for a 94-year-old actress who’s somehow still in her prime.
The set-up is one that could have anchored any film in the last 100 or so years. A well-to-do couple are hosting a dinner party, when an uninvited guest appears and sends their plans askew. But this is not some malignant troublemaker or supernatural haunting, just a confused old lady called Helen (Lois Smith) who used to live in the house and isn’t sure where else she belongs any longer. As the hostess, Elizabeth Reaser’s Rose, attempts to help her figure things out and send her on her way, Rose’s talent agent husband Sammy (Walton Goggins) tries to keep the party on track, since it’s potentially crucial to the career shift that he’s planning. With guests including A-lister Lucian (played by A-lister Pedro Pascal) and big-name director Gerald (Rufus Sewell), there are a lot of unpredictable elements at play, and a lot of ways the evening could go wrong.
What’s lovely about Conners’ script and direction is the way that she creates a gently rolling pace and lightly comic tone while also delving into serious issues. Helen’s arrival sends Rose, already on edge, into a tizzy: she tries to hide the fact that she’s allowed the old woman in from her husband, but she has a lot going on. She has to put her son to bed, manage the party guests, avoid the attentions of her old flame Lucian and, oh yes, just a minor issue, figure out where her life went off-track. Helen’s reminiscences about her own film career only fuel Rose’s crisis: will she be able to look back with such fondness in years to come?
Rose is an actress, or was before she became a mother. She’s just been rejected for a role on the basis that she’s too old to credibly play the mother of a six-year-old – though that’s exactly what she is. The play that she starred in with Lucian is being put onscreen: he’s reprising his role, but hers is going to Delia, a much younger ingenue (Eva De Dominici). She must now confront the very real possibility that her career is over – and at the same time her marriage is struggling as Sammy hits his own mid-career crisis. She loves her son, but is being a mother now her only choice?
It's a strikingly clear-eyed look at what it means to get older in a town that prizes youth above all else, a town that Conners and Goggins, her husband, know well. Rose is not, in real people terms, even old – Reaser is 49 – but she’s all too aware that casting agents and directors consider her so far over the hill that she’s disappearing out of sight. As someone who prided herself on having built her career on talent and hard work, not just looks, that’s a particularly bitter pill to swallow, and the continuing success of Lucian, and the presence of Delia, drive that point sharply home.
Nor is she wrong in her fears. Hollywood is, gradually, starting to realise that women over 39 may still have something to offer, but it’s been a long time coming. Throughout the 20th century, only one actress in her 50s won an Oscar, whereas zero men in their 20s won before Adrien Brody with The Pianist in 2002. Male stars have always kept working consistently into their 50s and 60s, taking interesting parts throughout, but women’s roles vanished through their midlife and only slightly bounced back in their 60s, when they were allowed small, grandmotherly roles. Consider the fact that Bette Davis had a comeback playing monstrous old women in films like What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962) And Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964) at the age of 54 and 56 respectively, or the same age as Uma Thurman and Renee Zellweger are now.
There’s no question that many actresses still suffer from ageism as well as sexism, and to a greater extent than men. Far more leading roles still go to men than women – about 70% of big Hollywood films (according to the latest USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report) – and many of those male stars are still remarkably resistant to playing opposite a love interest of their own age or older.
There has been some positive change. Meryl Streep’s continuing ability to open a film has kept her star firmly in place (and that’s after she took time off to raise her daughters at the height of her fame) and the daring choices of Nicole Kidman have made the second half of her career more exciting than the first. Hollywood’s fear of attempting to launch new stars or new IP have also granted unnaturally long life to those who established themselves in the 1990s or 2000s, so that Sandra Bullock remains firmly on the A-list and Reese Witherspoon is planning a new Legally Blonde. That conservatism in filmmaking is not a good thing for cinema, but its one upside is that it has allowed these stars to show that their ability to attract audiences to screens didn’t end when they turned 40, and that if anything they’re doing better work than ever. That’s an important lesson for Hollywood to learn.
And someone like Lois Smith should give us all hope. Born in 1930, she made her film debut opposite James Dean in East Of Eden in 1955 and went on to star with Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces in 1970. She’s had hits since including Fried Green Tomatoes, Fatal Attraction and The French Dispatch. She was an early film star willing to work steadily on TV, including a major role in True Blood, and she’s had a huge amount of success in the theatre. After two Tony nominations, she finally won in 2020 for The Inheritance, the same year she turned 90. She’s the oldest actress ever to win a Tony, and now here she is back on the big screen again, aged 94 and barely slowing. The Uninvited’s Helen isn’t quite conscious enough to dole out advice to Rose, but Smith herself is still sharp as a tack. Her unceasing work should give us all hope that there’s a way through the ageism and sexism of the industry, and still more stories to be told into our 90s.
Helen O'Hara is a film journalist, Editor-at-Large for Empire magazine and co-host of the Empire podcast. She is also the author of five books including Women Vs Hollywood: The Fall And Rise of Women in Film.
You can join us for a special preview and Q&A on 8 May at Garden Cinema. See here for more details.
The Uninvited is in UK cinemas from 9 May. theuninvited.movie
Today, on International Day of The Girl, we're launching Reclaim The Frame It Forward - an important campaign for us, to enable our work (and the work of our filmmakers) to be more accessible to a broader audience.
As the UK's leading charity promoting gender equity in cinema, we're wanting to increase our Community Tickets budget, enabling even more community groups, and individuals on no / low disposable incomes to access and enjoy our screening events, and you can help us too.
Our campaign - Reclaim The Frame It Forward - has been chosen by the UK’s biggest online match funding platform, The Big Give, to be part of their 2024 Women and Girls Match Fund.
We’re all too aware that inequity of opportunity and jobs, unfair pay, and the cost of living crisis can price people out of going to the cinema, especially for already under-served audiences, and how important it is that those screening events are accessible. Published just last week, the BFI’s Wider World of Film Report showed that more than a third of the 5,000 respondents surveyed said the price of a cinema ticket was the main reason they didn’t go to the cinema either at all or more frequently. For this reason, we regularly offer free tickets to Reclaim The Frame events for those for whom price is a barrier (without ever asking for proof or justification), and with your help we can do that more and more widely.
Donations made from today until 17 October 2024 will be matched pound for pound by The Big Give, for twice the impact! We’re aiming to raise £2,500, and your generosity will be doubled to £5,000 to enable more audiences to access our screenings and events, UK -wide.
With your support, we will also increase access provision for those screening events, for those who benefit from descriptive subtitling, live captioning and audio description, creating as equal an experience as possible.
How can you help?
Please help amplify our mission to Reclaim The Frame It Forward in the following ways:
DONATE: You can donate to our campaign here, for every pound you’ve donated it will be matched by The Big Give, meaning your money goes even further!
SHARE: Your voice is so valuable, if you can share details of our campaign on your social channels we’d be supremely grateful.
#ReclaimTheFrame It Forward to enable more community groups and people on low/no incomes to access and enjoy @ReclaimTheFrame events. Their campaign has been selected by the #WGMF meaning all donations are matched by @BigGive - to double the impact! https://bit.ly/RTFBigGive
We know that not everyone is in a position to donate but you can still support us by sharing details of our campaign via your own networks, feel free to use our suggested copy below:
Together, we can make cinema more accessible for all. You can read more about our campaign or donate here
Updated: Oct 10, 2024
CALL TO ACTION: Women of Colour On and Behind The Camera is a curated programme by Reclaim The Frame, a charity championing marginalised perspectives in cinema, connecting with audiences through community building and conversation. This season centres women of colour working in the action genre from the 90s to the present - both behind the camera: as writers and directors - and on screen: as actors and stunt performers.
This season will include films Set It Off (directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Takashi Bufford and Kate Lanier, 1996), D.E.B.S. (directed and written by Angela Robinson, 2004), The Woman King (directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens and Maria Bello, 2022), Polite Society (directed and written by Nida Manzoor, 2023). Special events will encompass panel conversations and demos with special guests, including stunt performer Ayesha Hussain. The season will tour various venues across the UK including Hackney Picturehouse (London), Dukes at Komedia Picturehouse (Brighton), Glasgow Film Theatre, and Midlands Art Centre (Birmingham).
These films serve as a jumping point to reflect on the realities of women holding intersectional identities through stories of friendship, revenge, coming of age, and ultimately, the empowerment to stand true to themselves. In a genre historically not used to tell these stories, CALL TO ACTION aims to reclaim action for diverse and intersectional audiences.
Where available, films will be screened with descriptive subtitles and optional audio description. Where possible, in-person discussions will be live captioned.
SET IT OFF
(USA 1996, 117mins, cert: 15)
Directed by F. Gary Gray
Written by Takashi Bufford and Kate Lanier
Starring Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise, Blair Underwood
When four best friends Frankie (Vivica A. Fox), Tisean (Kimberly Elise), Cleo (Queen Latifah), and Stony (Jada Pinkett) find themselves in a financial bind, they need to come up with a way to make money - and fast. With disguises and getaway cars, a plan to rob banks is born, going to great lengths to beat the systems that have worked against them, all while law enforcement is hot on their trail. Set It Off is a beloved 90’s cult classic, reclaiming and transcending the male dominated heist film genre by centering the unshakable bond between women.
Screenings:
D.E.B.S.
(USA 2004, 91 mins, BBFC Rating 12)
Directed by Angela Robinson
Written by Angela Robinson
Starring Meagan Good, Devon Aoki, Sara Foster, Jordana Brewster, Jill Ritchie, Holland Taylor
Recruited through a covert test in the SATs, Max (Meagan Good), Dominique (Devon Aoki), Amy (Sara Foster), and Janet (Jill Ritchie) are a part of the prestigious top secret academy for exceptional spies in the making. While attempting to defeat super villain Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster), the women’s relationships are not only challenged, but redefined. A campy cult classic, D.E.B.S. puts a sapphic twist on the likes of Charlie’s Angels and crime-fighting friends we’ve come to know and love today.
Screenings:
THE WOMAN KING
(USA 2022, 135 mins, BBFC Rating 15)
Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
Written by Dana Stevens, Maria Bello
Starring Viola Davis, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, John Boyega
In 1832, the Kingdom of Dahomey is under threat and the all-female team of warriors, the Agojie, are determined to defeat their enemies. Lead by headstong General Nanisca (Viola Davis) and trusted confidants, Izogie (Lashana Lynch) and Amenza (Sheila Atim), they teach the young women of their found family just what it means to protect their home and people. Inspired by true events, The Woman King explores underrepresented histories of women at the forefront of their own triumphs.
Screenings
POLITE SOCIETY
(UK 2023, 103 mins, BBFC Rating 12)
Directed by Nida Manzoor
Written by Nida Manzoor
Starring Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya, Nimra Bucha
16 year-old Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) has two goals - to become a stuntwoman just like her shero, Eunice Huthart, and to stop her older sister Lena (Ritu Arya) from marrying an all too suspicious surgeon and mama’s boy, Salim. With the help of her best friends, Ria sets out to investigate Lena’s soon to be mother-in-law (Nimra Bucha), and pull off her first ever wedding heist in hopes of reminding her sister of the path she’s truly meant to take. Polite Society reminds us our dreams don't become a reality without a good fight.
Screenings:
Screening as part of Art of Action, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network.
