Girls On Film

In this SHE WILL Special, Anna Smith talks to four key women behind the extraordinary female-focused folk horror: actor Alice Krige whose other work includes the Borg Queen in STAR TREK and Alma/Eva in GHOST STORY; director and co-writer Charlotte Colbert whose other work includes THE SILENT MAN, screenwriter Kitty Percy, and BIFA- nominated producer Jessica Malik whose other productions include L...

In this very special #SundanceLondon episode recorded live from Picturehouse Central, Girls On Film open the festival with an episode all about GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE! Anna interviews the marvellous stars Emma Thompson and (a very rare MALE guest) Daryl McCormack, as well as writer Katy Brand, and director Sophie Hyde. First up are Emma and Katy who discuss how the project developed and the...

The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson is the first Australian feature film with an Indigenous woman writing, directing and performing the lead role. In this episode, Anna Smith interviews the amazing Leah Purcell, who shares how she turned her favourite childhood story into a book, a play and now a film. Leah talks about the differences between the experiences, about working with her part...

We need more middle-aged women on screen - and this episode’s guests are leading the revolution. First, Anna chats to menopause activist Kate Muir about her latest documentary: Davina McCall: Sex, Mind and The Menopause. Kate shares behind the scenes stories about her activism, about filming the show and what has helped her in her personal menopause experience. She also gives tips for documentary...

A pregnant student seeks an abortion in 1960s France in the compelling new drama Happening. Audrey Diwan's stunning film is an immersive insight into life at the time, as young women explore their sexuality but are repressed by a law that bans abortion and, as our heroine puts it "turns them into housewives.” Director Audrey Diwan joins host Anna Smith to discuss the film starring Anamaria Vartolo...

Actor-producer Ruth Wilson speaks out about sex scenes, complex female characters and working with women in an exclusive interview for her new film True Things. Writer-director Harry Wootliff joins her and Anna for a lively, in-depth chat about the sensual drama, co starring Tom Burke as an ex convict who has an ambiguous relationship with Wilson’s Kate. They talk about the source novel and buildi...

This International Women’s Day, you are cordially invited to attend the inaugural Girls On Film Awards! This episode was recorded at a glittering ceremony at the gorgeous The Garden Cinema in March 2022, with an audience of industry luminaries. Listen in to discover who won everything from Female Friendship on Screen to the Best Female Orgasm on film - and hear speeches from some of our favourite...

The Power of the Dog cinematographer Ari Wegner joins Anna for a special episode exploring her work on Jane Campion’s riveting western. The first woman to be nominated for the cinematography BAFTA, Ari is also only the second ever nominated for the Oscar. The Australian filmmaker - who also worked on Girls On Film favourite Zola - gives her reaction to her historic nomination, explains how she got...

BAFTA-nominated actor Ann Dowd bares her soul in an in-depth interview about the film Mass, an involving drama about two couples meeting after a tragedy. First, host Anna Smith speaks to film critic Rhianna Dhillon to review the film, which co stars Martha Plimpton, Reed Birney and Jason Isaacs. The two discuss their emotional reactions to the story, the power of the script and performances and co...

In this episode, our host Anna Smith makes a foray into an animated comedy featuring a robot apocalypse full of "delicious sight gags, absurd one-liners and deliriously silly set-pieces" - in the words of our guest, Catherine Bray. Computer-animated science fiction film The Mitchells vs The Machines, nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the British Academy Film Awards and at the Oscars this...

In this episode, our host Anna Smith takes the feminist film conversation to new heights by climbing into the world of sport. We take a look at the empowering documentary The Wall - Climb for Gold, which centres on the lives, perseverance and determination of four female athletes, as they prepare for and compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. While the focus is on climbers, this is a human story that...

Mothering Sunday is a radical period drama and portrait of an artist as a young woman. During a sweltering summer in Britain between the wars, it follows domestic servant Jane Fairchild on the titular day off-duty – the day of a secret visit to her illicit upper-class lover. Starring Odessa Young, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth and Olivia Colman, the superbly acted drama explores themes of grief, clas...

President is a new, Oscar-shortlisted feature documentary examining the controversial 2018 presidential election in Zimbabwe through stunningly close access. It’s raw, it's gripping, it’s history in the making and it’s a real story that other nations can witness and learn from. In this episode, Anna unpacks the riveting documentary with its director, Camilla Nielsson. First up, Camilla discusses P...

This episode celebrates the film CODA, which has been longlisted for seven British Academy Film Awards: for Best Film, Director and Adapted Screenplay, for Leading Actress and Supporting Actor, for Casting, and for Sound. The uplifting comedy-drama follows Ruby (Emilia Jones) a 17-year-old CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), who finds herself torn between pursuing a future at music school and her fear of...

In this Scream special, we get to the guts of the iconic horror franchise’s latest instalment – from its feminist chops to its send-up of toxic fan culture. With plenty of the wry riffs on horror tropes we’ve come to expect from the series, Scream sees much-loved mainstay characters join forces with new blood to take down the Ghostface killer. This meta-slasher may be playful, but it takes represe...

In this episode of Girls On Film, we focus on the fantastic feminist period drama, The Colour Room. The film tells the story of working class Clarice Cliff, the first female ceramist in the pottery factories of Stoke-On-Trent, England, who revolutionised her workplace in the early 20th century. Her mantra? ‘It doesn’t make me any less of an artist to have a little fun at work.’ The Colour Room has...

Anna Smith is joined by two fantastic actresses and now directors, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Hall, to discuss their daring directorial debuts: The Lost Daughter and Passing. Anna is also joined by the star of Passing, Ruth Negga. First up, Maggie discusses the central themes of motherhood and growth in The Lost Daughter, starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson and Dagmara Dominczyk. Maggie reve...

In this episode of Girls On Film, we dive into the film Ascension, which has been shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature for the 2022 Academy Awards. The film explores the contemporary Chinese Dream and the paradox of progress in China, as seen through the eyes of filmmaker and editor Jessica Kingdon. Jessica joins us and talks about her unique and successful style of filming and editing, and th...

This industry special goes out to anyone who has ever felt mistreated in a workplace. Liesl Tommy, director of the Aretha Franklin biopic ‘Respect’ starring Jennifer Husdon, returns to Girls On Film to dive deeper into the musical and give her thoughts on respect in the film industry. Liesl reveals details about the new DVD release of 'Respect', defines what respect means to her in her working lif...

Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided To Go For It is the new and inspirational doc telling the story of the Puerto Rican-born American actress, dancer and singer, whose career has spanned over 70 years. Filmmaker and director Mariem Pérez Riera delves into the remarkable life of Rita Moreno and shines a light on some of Rita’s darker experiences as a woman and an immigrant in the industry. In this...

The powerful doc Dying to Divorce reports on the fight against domestic violence in Turkey. Filmed over five years, it tells the story of women who have both faced and are campaigning against domestic violence in Turkey. We review the film with Observer critic Simran Hans, who delves into the reputation and function of documentaries, and also the process of filmmaking as a means of activism. Anna...

Will James Bond ever be a woman? Non binary? A person of colour? The producer of the Bond series reveals all in the 100th episode of Girls On Film, an industry special in partnership with No Time to Die. Powerhouse Barbara Broccoli joins Anna to discuss her work on the franchise, talking about the importance of cinema and community, the exciting roles for women in No Time to Die and Barbara’s love...

In this very special episode recorded live from Bvlgari Hotel London on the 17th of November, Girls On Film pull back the curtain and celebrate the women in film PR and distribution, who bring the buzz to all your favourite flicks! Anna interviews three panels of women in the industry. First, Anna Whelan, Publicity Manager at Sony and Anne Gartside, Vice President of Publicity at STX Entertainment...

This week on Girls On Film, we are celebrating the Russian Film Festival 2021, a month-long online festival in collaboration with ROSKINO. First, critic Hanna Flint joins Anna to discuss two of the female-directed films in the festival, Doctor Liza and Masha. Anna and Hanna ponder the clever use of levity and humour alongside harrowing subjects, and the stark realism in both of the films. They als...

In this episode, Anna hears from Eva Husson and Odessa Young, the director and star of Mothering Sunday. They discuss the quiet radicalism of a period drama that tells a woman’s story without the primary focus of female struggle, and how mesmerising it is to watch a female creator come into her own. Anna, Eva and Odessa also chat about the teething problems around the burgeoning role of intimacy c...