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CLOWNING GLORIES: Women in Film Comedy Before 1930
Women were highly active as directors during cinema’s first decades, and our celebration of women’s contribution to the development of film comedy includes the work of pioneering directors Alice Guy, Florence Turner and Dorothy Arzner.
The retrospective also showcases the work of female writers, including the brilliantly acerbic Anita Loos, producers like Mary Pickford, and a wide range of inspired comediennes, from clowns to ‘It’ girls and feisty heroines. The silent films in this season will be accompanied by some of the UK’s leading women composers performing live music specifically commissioned for the festival and introduced by star comedians including Jo Brand, Shazia Mirza, Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson), Lucy Porter and Arabella Weir.
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NFT 1 Jo Brand, Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson) and Shazia Mirza host a film-music-comedy extravaganza with riotous gems from cinema’s earliest superstars and live music from cutting edge musicians Nikki Yeoh and Serafina Steer. An unmissable launch of BEV’s hunt for the UK’s new comedy filmmaking talent. |
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My Best Girl + Elysian Quartet live NFT 3 Maggie falls in love with Joe, her new colleague in the stock room, unaware that he is the son of the department store owner, working undercover to prove his business skills. Stars Mary Pickford. |
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NFT 3 With Ossi Oswalda, Curtz Goetz, Victor Janson, Ferry Sikla, Margarete Kupfer. Ossi's father hires a guardian to educate his rebellious daughter. When she escapes from house arrest in disguise, Ossi begins to investigate whether life is more liberated in a mans shoes. |
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The Vagabond Queen + Alcyona live NFT 3 Cash-strapped maid Sally is the doppelganger of Princess Zonia of Bolonia. Impersonating the princess during her coronation, feisty Sally has to endure Zonia’s randy husband as well as several hilarious assassination attempts. |
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Show People + Jane Gardener live & Mabel's Dramatic Career + Jean Hasse live introduced by comedienne Sally Philips NFT 3 Peggy Pepper begins her career in slapstick movies, where she falls for fellow comedian Billy Boone, but when as ‘Patricia Pepoire’ she graduates to high art productions, she rejects him. |
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The Love Expert + Bluebottles + Jane Gardner live NFT 3 Self-appointed ‘love expert’ Babs uses her matchmaking skills to marry off the women who stand in the way of her own romantic interest. |
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The Wild Party + A House Divided NFT 2 In a woman’s college full of lively flapper students, Stella ( the original ‘It’ girl Clara Bow) turns the dorm into one wild party and distracts the anthropology professor from his educational mission. |
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Panel Discussion: The Original and Best Girls of Film Comedy NFT 3 Eminent film historian Kevin Brownlow, comic actress Lucy Porter, US critic Jay Weissberg and curator Bryony Dixon discuss the importance of creative women in silent comedy. |
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