UK-based Reclaim The Frame will present a programme of events celebrating International Women’s Day 2025, also marking the 20-year anniversary of the inaugural Birds’ Eye View Film Festival, from which the charity evolved. Taking place from 7-9 March at BFI Southbank, where the festival first launched, and the Regent Street Cinema, and with a selection of films on BFI Player, the weekender will feature an Industry panel and networking receptions, three special screenings of feature films and a short film showcase from emerging filmmakers.
Special guest film directors in attendance will include Annemarie Jacir, Sandhya Suri and Daisy-May Hudson.
As a film festival, Birds’ Eye View ran from 2005-2014, borne of a short film event celebrating women filmmakers founded by Rachel Millward and Pinny Grylls, with Rachel Millward (2003-2014), Kate Gerova (2013-2015), Mia Bays (2017-2021) and currently Melanie Iredale (2021-present) serving as Directors respectively to lead the charity from its founding to the present day. Gurinder Chadha was long-time Patron of the festival and recipients of the Birds’ Eye View Awards over the years included filmmakers Sarah Polley, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Kim Longinotto and Marjane Satrapi, to name a few.
Reclaim The Frame has contributed immeasurably to the industry, championing the work of filmmakers of all marginalised genders and building audiences across the UK (and beyond) to discover and support their storytelling. In recent years, Birds’ Eye View, now known as Reclaim The Frame, has transformed into a year-round and UK-wide operation offering training, consultancy services and supporting new releases, which have recently included campaigns for Raine Allan Miller’s Rye Lane, Ava DuVernay’s Origin, Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex, Carla Gutierrez’s Frida and Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun, amongst others. Reclaim The Frame is supported by the BFI, awarding National Lottery funding.
In addition to a calendar of events at a network of over 20+ cinemas in 16 cities across the UK, the Reclaim the Frame x International project works with global partnerships to take its shared mission overseas.
With just 18% of UK theatrical releases co/written by women and only 20% co/directed by women in 2024 – both 2% down from 2023, and a negligible overall increase in both roles over the last six years, the mission for gender equity in all film spaces continues.
A full schedule for the Reclaim; Reframe; Rejoice Weekender is as below (events are open to the public unless otherwise specified). Screenings will be presented with descriptive subtitles and Q&A’s will be live captioned where possible. From 7 March, a curated selection of films from the shorts showcase will be made available to screen on BFI Player. There will also be a Reclaim The Frame 20th Anniversary Drinks Reception for participants to gather and celebrate.
Friday 7 March
Friday 7 March – 10:00
Regent Street Cinema
Closing the Distribution Gap Panel + Breakfast event
*Speakers to be announced and registration open w/c 10 February
Inspired by International Women’s Day’s theme of ‘Accelerate Action’, this conversation celebrates the work being done to close the distribution gap for women in film, and addresses what we can do to accelerate it.
With women disproportionately commissioned with lower budgets, the knock on effect on smaller productions impacts on marketing spend, release scale, and ultimately box office. According to Reclaim The Frame’s own data, based on the current rate of change, parity in UK distribution won’t be reached until 2049 – only two years earlier than the current predicted pay gap across all UK labour markets.
Bringing together leaders in the field of gender justice and film distribution, this panel will explore how it is that 2049 can come sooner.
Friday 7 March – 20:35
BFI Southbank
WHEN I SAW YOU + Q&A with writer-director Annemarie Jacir
(Palestine/Jordan 2012, 93mins)
Reclaim The Frame is delighted to present a screening of WHEN I SAW YOU, director Annemarie Jacir’s exquisite coming-of-age story.
Jordan, 1967: spirited young Tarek escapes a Palestinian refugee camp, determined to go home, and is taken under the wing of a group of freedom fighters. When his mother follows, they embark on an adventure, driven by an unshakeable resolve to be free. Returning to BFI Southbank having premiered at the venue as part of Birds’ Eye View Film Festival (from which Reclaim The Frame evolved), WHEN I SAW YOU is a powerful work of resistance and a perfect film to celebrate 20 years of Reclaim The Frame’s work championing marginalised perspectives in cinema.
Followed by post-screening conversation with filmmaker Annemarie Jacir, moderated by producer / curator Elhum Shakerifar, former Head of Programme at Birds’ Eye View Film Festival.
Saturday 8 March
Saturday 8 March – 17:40
BFI Southbank, NFT 1
Reframe and Rejoice International Women’s Day Shorts Showcase
Curated from an open call for entries, Reclaim The Frame will present a selection of new shorts from across the UK, which will then go on to form part of British Council’s international touring programme.
*Film titles to be announced w/c 17 February *
Saturday 8 March – 20:15
Regent Street Cinema
SANTOSH Preview + Q&A with writer-director Sandhya Suri
(UK/India 2024, 120mins)
Set in rural Northern India, a recent widow inherits her late-husband’s job as a police constable and is drawn into a moral underworld while investigating the murder of a low-caste girl. Reclaim The Frame is thrilled to present this preview screening of Sandhya Suri’s thrilling police procedural.
When a low-caste girl is found raped and murdered, Santosh is pulled into the investigation under the wing of Sharma, a fellow female inspector. The deeper Santosh digs, the more she’s drawn into a dark world where the lines between right and wrong begin to blur and she’s forced to confront what justice really means.
Reclaim The Frame will be supporting the release of SANTOSH, set to reach UK cinemas on 21 March 2025.
Sunday 9 March
Sunday 9 March – 17:00
Regent Street Cinema
LOLLIPOP London Premiere + Q&A with writer-director Daisy-May Hudson and cast members Posy Sterling, Idil Ahmed and TerriAnne Cousins
(UK 2024, 100mins)
Following its extremely successful world premiere at EIFF 2024, Reclaim The Frame is excited to present the London Premiere of Daisy-May Hudson’s LOLLIPOP.
Molly, a young woman released from prison battles to regain custody of her children. When she reconnects with her childhood friend Amina, a fellow single mother trying to make a life for her family, the two women join forces and take destiny into their own hands.
LOLLIPOP is a film about our capacity for joy even in life’s hardest moments, about finding strength through sisterhood, and what it means to have the unwavering courage to fight for your family, against a system that won’t listen, even when you’ve got nothing left.
Reclaim The Frame Director, Melanie Iredale, said: “We’re excited to be celebrating 20 years of advocating for minoritised perspectives in cinema, and the women and people of all marginalised genders who were and continue to be part of it – on screen and behind the scenes. Reflecting on features from festivals past, through to showcasing shorts and debuts by emerging talent, all of the films selected share an important message about finding freedoms through solidarity, told through creative, compelling compassionate filmmaking. On behalf of the team, we hope you can join us for a weekend of community building through cinema.”
Filmmaker Annemarie Jacir, shared: “Returning to London with WHEN I SAW YOU for Reclaim The Frame’s 20-year anniversary is so exciting. Opening the Birds’ Eye View Film Festival back in 2013 was such a great honor, and one of the most unforgettable weekends I’ve had. I’m so looking forward to reuniting with the amazing audience and people who made it happen.”
LOLLIPOP filmmaker Daisy-May Hudson, commented: “We are SO excited to be previewing LOLLIPOP with Reclaim The Frame for their 20th Anniversary. This film is a celebration of women coming together and the magic, courage, joy, tenderness and fierce power that is created through that. Reclaim The Frame’s immense dedication has always centred the voices of those not often heard – and LOLLIPOP creates a platform for women that are rarely given space by the system, both on and off camera, to be felt, seen and witnessed. When women come together, magical things happen and LOLLIPOP is a profound testament to that.“
The Reclaim The Frame International Women’s Day Weekender takes place at BFI Southbank and the Regent Street Cinema from 7-9 March 2025.
