An on line event, aimed primarily at young audiences, has been organised by the Young Programmers at Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) to promote work by women filmmakers and takes place during the last weekend in February 2021.
Part of the programme is a ‘watch party’ entitled Woman with a Movie Camera that features three landmark films from three iconic women film makers. Starting on Friday 26th February at 7pm, and with each film being introduced by an EIFF Youth young programmer, is avant-garde classic Daisies, directed by Věra Chytilová; Saturday 27th at 7pm sees the ground-breaking and genre defying classic The Watermelon Woman, directed by Cheryl Dunye, and on Sunday 28th at 2pm the final film from the inspirational Agnès Varda, Varda By Agnès will be shown.
These ‘watch parties’ will be hosted on the EIFF/EIFF Youth Instagram account where you can just start the film and connect with online at the advertised start time.
EIFF Youth Young Programmer Lucilla Luprano says “This is my second year taking part in the Young Programmers project and I have absolutely loved this experience. Having a space where I can share my love for cinema with like-minded people my age is absolutely amazing. I got to watch so many new independent films thanks to this experience and it has really changed my preferences in cinema but has also given me a different outlook on the world. This project has also allowed me to face my fear of public speaking, by allowing me to be a host on a variety of occasions.
I am excited for people to see what we have planned for our Woman with a Movie Camera project – I hope they love the films as much as I did – they are very different – but I wish to reach more people our age with less ‘mainstream’ and independent films, because often times our generation is not exposed to them.”
EIFF Youth is also running a free Film Course Showcase that is designed to arm future film students with all they need to know about how and where to study film in Scotland. The Film Course Showcase will be shown live on YouTube on Saturday 27th February from 2pm – 4pm after which the session will be available on their YouTube channel. In addition to presentations, there will be opportunities for potential students to ask questions in the live Q&A.
All films are available on the BFI Player Subscription service, which is offering a special extension to the free 14 day trial (and then is £4.99 a month). EIFF Youth is making some data bursaries available to support young people who might need free data dongles to take part in the screenings and events. Some data bursaries are available via the EIFF Youth website where you can send your name, date of birth and full address by Wed 17 February.
All films are available on BFI Player Subscription service where you can sign up for a special extended FREE trial. Full details and information on how to claim a voucher code is available at EIFF youth website. Please note you need to be 16 to hold a BFI Player account. Younger viewers may only use the service under the supervision of an adult. There is no commitment. You can cancel any time. This offer is only available in the UK for rights reasons. Offer expires 31/03/2021.
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 