Of the top 100 highest grossing films last year, women made up just 24% of producers, 10% of writers, and 8% of directors. Despite directing Ladybird, the best reviewed film of 2017, Greta Gerwig failed to win the esteemed Best Director title, maintaining Kathryn Bigelow’s place in history as the only woman in the academy’s 90-year history to receive the award.
But Maryhill resident Amanda Craig, 25, has a plan to shape the future for female film-makers and film-lovers. In October 2017, she launched She’s En Scene, a community cinema screening female-made films to an audience exclusively made up of women. Films are followed by discussions, where attendees can chat about all things film as well as themes and issues that appear in the selections.
Tonight at 6.30 She’s En Scene is hosting a screening and discussion of The Punk Singer, the 2013 documentary following the career of legendary front woman Kathleen Hanna, at Plantation Productions in Govan.
But Amanda wants to push the project further than just enjoying and talking about film.
“I thought well, why don’t we create a community cinema where we’re screening films that are made, either directed or written by women – but we’ll also in the long-term create a collective of women who want to create films. So although it’s a community cinema, the bigger objective is for women in Glasgow to come together and make films.”
Having worked alongside women who are trying to break into the notoriously competitive industry, Amanda believes she understands the barriers preventing women from accessing film-making, as well as how to overcome them.
“Because technical, directing kind of stuff are male-dominated, when you’re actually trying to network and chat to people, it’s men giving men jobs. There’s lots of spaces, film crew spaces in Glasgow, they’re catering for, I think, that kind of part of the industry. But there wasn’t anything that was for women, for them to talk about film, discuss film, and then eventually if women want to, create.”
This morning, Metro’s front page ran the splash, “the clubs where men are banned!”, questioning whether women-only spaces are a modern example of so-called “reverse sexism”. Women-only spaces are a contentious issue, prompting regular media discussion with loud, forceful opinions on either side. But Amanda believes women’s spaces should be accepted as a means to achieve equality.
“People have said to me that it’s quite controversial that only women are allowed in this space, but for me it’s important, because at the moment, it’s not a level playing field. The industry isn’t, and in general. So until it is, we need these spaces.”
In 2015, a reported 14% of Scottish adults said they had less than three people to turn to in difficult times.
Amanda, who’s experienced mental health troubles, is confident that She’s En Scene can deal with issues of isolation in local Glasweigan communities.
“For me, the one thing that made me feel better when I was feeling so lonely and the worst way I’ve ever felt, was knowing that I had a support network. And knowing that I had a passion which was film.
“For women, especially mothers, and women who are maybe living in areas that aren’t familiar to them, like asylum seekers, social isolation is more common. Stuff like this is tackling social isolation because it’s stuff happening within the community instead of central or outwith.”
While Amanda has received criticism for tickets to She’s En Scene events costing £8, she points out that she’s working on lowering that figure.
“I really want that to change. The only reason that’s at that price at the moment is because I’m having to cover film license expenses and all that kind of stuff.
“I want to bring that right down so it’s accessible. That is vital.”
GCU’s female students are encouraged to attend She’s En Scene and contact the team to get involved with future film-making opportunities. Amanda plans to hold workshops and networking events to connect more women in film making in the future, so keep an eye on the Facebook and Twitter pages linked in this article.
For more information, like She’s En Scene on Facebook or email shesenscene@outlook.com.
