Thursday 8th March is International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. To celebrate this, Open Clasp Theatre Company and West End Women & Girls Centre are thrilled to present a week-long festival from Monday 5th – Friday 9th March showcasing films about women. Each day will focus on a different theme or group of women, with guest speakers featured throughout the programme.
You can see the programme of events below. Share, tell your friends and we look forward to seeing you there!
FREE ENTRY…There will be a bucket for donations for West End Women & Girls Centre to raise money to host a free community performance of Open Clasp’s play Rattle Snake which explores real women’s experiences of coercive controlling domestic abuse.
N.B. The festival is being held at the West End Women & Girls Centre, therefore the events are only open to women.
MONDAY 5th MARCH:
1.30-2.30pm- Key Change. A raw and illuminating portrayal devised by women in prison. Winner of the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award 2015 & a New York Times Critic’s Pick
Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/
6-7pm- Key Change
TUESDAY 6th MARCH:
1.30-2.30pm- Love Should Never Be Abusive including Guest Speaker Catherine Donovan (University of Sunderland). Four short films exploring Domestic Abuse in LGB &/or T relationships.
Watch the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/
3-4pm- Lizzie’s Story and Guest Speaker Laura McIntyre from Changing Lives. A short animated film and photo montage documentary created from the real-life experiences of a group of women working as sex workers in Middlesborough.
WEDNESDAY 7th MARCH:
10-5pm- Songlines Installation, a powerful multi-media installation
Songlines was developed in collaboration with women from minority communities living in the North East of England. Through audio recordings, film and photography, you hear the voices of the women exploring themes of belonging, identity, community and trust focusing on the journeys that the women undertake in their personal lives.
Watch the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/
THURSDAY 8th MARCH:
12:00-14:30- Queen (Hindi Film with English Subtitles). Queen is the story of Rani Mehra, a young woman from Delhi who is brought up in a loving, protective Indian family, where her peers decide what her life is going to be like. Rani is put into a situation where she makes the most unlikely decision of her life: she decides to go on her honeymoon alone! What follows is a girl’s journey of getting over her past and rediscovering herself.
Watch the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/
18:30-20:30- Suffragette (Rated 12) Maud (Carey Mulligan) is a working mother drawn into the fight for women’s rights. She and her friends become foot soldiers in Mrs Pankhurst’s early feminist movement. Maud’s demands for equality result in her being fired from her job, thrown out on the streets by her husband and banned from seeing her son. But the Suffragette sisterhood rallies round to support her and together they continue their heart-breaking and inspirational fight to be heard.
Watch the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/
FRIDAY 9th MARCH:
11:00-12:00- Henna Night: Bangladeshi Community. Anika is getting married and leaving the family home. Her sister and sister-in-law debate the care needed for their father and mother.
12:00-12:30- Flowers (The Care Plan): Traveller Community. In a care home, new worker Fiona opens Traveller Lizzie’s care plan and comes unstuck.
12:30-13:00- Gloria’s Story: LGB&T Community. Gloria is a lesbian. After years spent moving from one dementia unit to another, her past has been eroded by the misconceptions of others until new care worker Nat helps her to reclaim her identity.
13:00-14:00- Moving In. Short film showing artists Claire Ford and Kate Sweeney’s residency at Northbourne Residential Care Home in Gateshead. Over a one month period they lived and slept at Northbourne in order to work creatively with residents, families and care staff.
19:00-21:30- Thelma & Louise (Rated 15). Thelma (Geena Davis) is a bored housewife. Louise (Susan Sarandon) is a waitress at a coffee shop. Together they sneak off in a ’66 T-bird convertible for a three-day fishing trip. However, things don’t quite go according to plan. An encounter with a drunken, foul-mouthed, would-be rapist transforms their quiet getaway weekend into a cross-country escape that will change their lives forever. There will be a bar serving drinks!
