Bird's Eye View

A Record Year for Women Filmmakers at the BAFTAs

Kathryn Bigelow at the BAFTAs last night

Last night Kathryn Bigelow picked up Best Film & Best Director for The Hurt Locker, Andrea Arnold won Outstanding British Film for Fish Tank, Martina Amati was awarded for Best Short for I Do Air and Best Short Animation went to Emma Lazenby  and Sally Arthur for Mother of Many. Congratulations to all these winners! Yesterday really was a night to be celebrated for women in film.

Kathryn Bigelow was the clear star of the British Academy Film and Television awards last night. Her gritty Iraq drama featuring an American bomb disposal unit The Hurt locker picked up six BAFTAs in total, making it the film with the most wins. In her acceptance speech she said “I would like to dedicate (the film) to never abandoning the need to find a resolution for peace.” Bigelow is truly an inspiring woman and filmmaker and we wish her every success for the future, (and fingers crossed for her to be the first woman to win best director at the Oscars next month.) If you haven’t seen it, catch The Hurt Locker at BEVFF on 4th March and see what all the fuss is about!

BEV friend and favorite Andrea Arnold won for Outstanding British Film with the brilliant Fish Tank. In her speech she

Fish Tank

commended the academy for giving her an award for a film that is “not necessarily an easy ride.”

Also in the running for these awards was another female directed film – An Education by Lone Scherfig. The Hurt Locker, Fish Tank, An Education and Coco Before Chanel were all BEV First Weekenders films in 2009  and also in our own competition for Best Woman Directed Film of The Year. Grab the last chance to vote for your favourite here and see the winner - as presented by Gillian Anderson - at our Special Oscars Night Out during the festival, on Sunday 7th March at the ICA.

Hugely encouraging also were the wins by women for Best Short and Best Short Animation.

I Do Air

Martina Amati’s drama about a young girl overcoming her fears about diving from a great height into a swimming pool; I Do Air won Best Short. Martina is now in development with a Cinema Extreme project – one to watch we say!

Emma Lazenby’s accomplished short  animation Mother of Many inspired by her own mother, a midwife for many years, won Best Short animation. We feel this bodes very well for our Animation Lab which is launching at the fest. Next step -  more women in the world of feature length animation!

Congratulations to all these winning women – we hope to see ever more in the future!