This is the second in a series of ongoing events at Genesis that forms part of Birds’ Eye View’s new 4 film/5-city Reclaim The Frame Influencers project; a mission to bring ever-greater audiences to films by women to build a more balanced film future.
British writer-director Deborah Haywood’s first feature Pin Cushion tells the story of a unique mother-daughter duo: two glittering misfits who are knitted together in a relationship that is as kitsch and comforting as it is suffocating.
Together, Iona (played with startling screen presence from newcomer Lily Newmark) and her eccentric single mum Lyn (Joanna Scanlan on top form) move to a new town in the Midlands. Iona is determined to reinvent herself at school and quickly jumps through hoops to befriend the popular girls. Meanwhile, Lyn, used to being her daughter’s best friend, feels left out and attempts to woo their neighbour Belinda by lending her a ladder. But Belinda really isn’t interested in making new friends…
As the fragile veneer of forced friendship slips, both Lyn and Iona find themselves seeking fantastical and fabricated alternative realities. In her first feature, Haywood turns the coming of age story upside down with dark and unexpected twists. Worlds that glitter and twinkle on the outside often mask the saddest truths.
Having opened the acclaimed Critics’ Week programme at Venice before heading over to Rotterdam International Film Festival, BIFA-nominated Haywood’s Pin Cushion has already been praised to match the wicked and thought-provoking works of Todd Solondz.
The film is followed by an A&Q discussion with PIN CUSHION writer/director Deborah Haywood, with Joanna Scanlan, Isy Suttie and critic/curator Danny Leigh, and Louise Arseneault, Ph.D. ESRC Mental Health Leadership Fellow Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. Hosted by the curators and agency-for-change Birds’ Eye View’s Mia Bays (producer of Oscar-winning and multi-BAFTA nominated films) and Jo Duncombe (BEV curator and creative producer Influencer Programme).
Join us before the screening for an exclusive ‘create your own pin cushion’ workshop. More info to follow shortly.
Official Selection Venice Film Festival Critics’ Week 2017 – Opening Night Gala – World premiere
Official Selection Rotterdam International Film Festival 2018
