The silver sands of Tiree will welcome their second annual film festival next week and host a unique learning lab that promotes women in film exhibition and distribution.
The Sea Change festival begins with a three-day development lab where experts from distribution, audience development and programming will present talks, teach leadership skills and provide one-to-one coaching, bringing women together to discuss challenges and barriers to women in the film industry.
This year’s programme will celebrate the life and work of the iconic French film director Agnes Varda and will mark the centenary of Orkney film-maker Margaret Tait with a screening of Blue Black Permanent, the first Scottish feature film directed by a woman.
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The festival showcases films from around the world with a wide range of screenings, short films, guest speakers, acting and filmmaking workshops, live music and family events.
Sea Change will host the UK’s only professional development workshop, Finding Your Voice, Making Yourself Heard and Engaging New Audiences, dedicated entirely to women ahead of the three-day film festival that is open to all.
Jen Skinner, director of Screen Argyll, which aims to promote film exhibition, promotion and engagement in Argyll, brought together women in the industry for the first time last year after moving to Tiree, the home of her grandparents.
She said: “Most of the jobs are in London and there’s not many of them and they’re not highly paid. How do you live in London and take the risks to do those jobs? Scotland has been so supportive.
“I used to manage a venue, I got pregnant and I didn’t want to work full time.
“It’s such a full-on responsibility managing a venue and I couldn’t go part time so I actually took a step down.
“For women it’s particularly hard as it’s an all-or-nothing industry. It’s hard to find a balance in it.”
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Bringing established women in the industry together to mentor others starting out or trying to break in is an effort to even the playing field in an industry that is weighted more towards men.
Research carried out by the University of Southampton showed that across 3,452 films in production in the UK between 2003 and 2015, only 14 per cent of all directors and 7% of all cinematographers were women.
Figures released by the British Film Institute reveal that in a survey of UK films from 1911 to 2017, there is still a long way to go before gender parity in cast and crew is met.
Fewer than 1% of films had crews that are more than 50% female, while only 12% of writers were women.
Of the 11,165 directing credits, 10,558 – or 94.56% – were men.
Some of the speakers at the event include Corrina Antrobus from the Bechdel Test Fest and Picture House Cinemas, Jo Taylor from Reclaim the Frame and Rachel Hayward from HOME Manchester. The event is proving so popular there is already a waiting list of speakers for next year.
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The film festival runs from September 20-22 and offers attendees the chance to share in discussions generated in the lab. Screenings of films made by women, some of which will be screened in a yurt cinema, will make up the schedule.
Sue Bourne will speak about her film Fabulous Fashionistas which celebrates the style and soul of older women. Actress Vicky Knight will talk about making her debut in Dirty God, where she plays an acid attack victim, directed by Sacha Polak.
The festival will close with a viewing of Wild Rose, a Scottish feature written by Nicole Taylor.
Building relationships and networking is central to the premise behind the festival and the development lab and are vital for women in the industry.
Ms Skinner said: “There are so many women doing great things and we are keen to build more of these relationships with people in industry. It’s really exciting.”
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