Bird's Eye View

Premieres and paparazzi: Day 6 at BEV 2011

L-R: Rachel Millward, Annie Lennox, Livia Firth, Laura Bailey

Any suggestions of fading energy after a long BEV week were quickly quelled on Sunday with the London premiere of the year’s most celebrated international film, the UK premiere of an extraordinary look at the lives of women under Palestine’s ruling Hamas party, and a visit from some of the world’s most wonderful women for our Equals on Film Oxfam Gala Screening. Who could possibly think of sleep when hanging out with the likes of Annie Lennox, Laura Bailey, Livia Firth and Thandie Newton?

At BFI Southbank we were truly honoured to present the London premiere of Danish Auteur Susanne Bier’s unforgettable drama In A Better World. Having fought hard to premiere the film at BEV, its recent Awards at the 2011 Golden Globes and Academy Awards gave the screening an added thrill.

We also saw the UK premiere of Suha Arraf’s compelling documentary Women of Hamas. In a fascinating Q&A after the screening, the director talked about the issues facing women in modern Palestine, and talked about the extraordinary lengths she took to gain access to their lives, including finally directing interviews via Skype when she was unable to travel into Gaza herself.

Suha Arraf

Then at the ICA, the flash bulbs went at top speed as a line-up of famous and fabulous women came down to support our Equals on Film: Oxfam Gala Screeing, part of the EQUALS campaign for the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. In attendance were actress Thandie Newton, musician and EQUALS founder Annie Lennox, supermodel Laura Bailey, producer and fashionista Livia Firth and many more. In an inspiring evening, BEV founder-director Rachel Millward gave a heartfelt introduction, recalling that her inspiration for Birds Eye View came from her work in gender and development in Africa, and reaffirming BEV’s commitment to support an international diversity of women filmmakers.

Trying not to get too star-struck, we now head into the final stretch of this year’s Festival with Bring A Baby screenings of Julie Moggan’s Britdoc Award-winning real-life rom-com Guilty Pleasures alongside Emma Lazenby’s BAFTA-winning short animation Mother of Many. Plus there’s still a chance to catch Susanne Bier’s 2011 Oscar and Golden Globe-winning In A Better World today and tomorrow at the Notting Hill’s Electric Cinema and Dalston’s Rio.