March is Women’s History Month, and whilst there’s never a bad time to showcase all the amazing women filmmakers whose work screens at Showroom, there’s an absolute feast of delights coming up this month that just have to be shared.

Showroom uses the F-Rating system all year round, highlighting women’s contributions to the directing, writing, and lead performances of films in our programme on a special page in our website and through purple 'F' badges on each film icon. This month around 40% of the programme is F-Rated, despite the shocking statistics that only 17% of films come from a female screenwriter and only 11% are helmed by a female director.

Starting with the week commencing 1 March, our Kelly and Michelle season kicks off with the long-awaited Showing Up, from
indie director Kelly Reichardt. Across four weekends, we have a selection of Reichardt’s other beautiful dramas starring her frequent collaborator, acclaimed actress Michelle Williams. This includes Certain Women co-starring Best Actress nominee Lily Gladstone. That same weekend, we bring a special preview of another masterpiece by a contemporary auteur, fresh from Glasgow Film Festival: Alice Rohrwacher’s magical, critically-acclaimed La Chimera, on Saturday 2nd March. Another one-off follows on Thursday 7, with Showroom Spotlight showcasing cult comedy Party Girl, starring Parker Posey, for World Book Day.

The first week of March launches two further, polar-opposite new releases;80s-inspired high school Franken-horror-comedy from debut director Zelda Williams and cult screenwriter Diablo Cody (Jennifer’s Body, Juno) brings the laughs whilst Oscar-nominated documentary Four Daughters will have you thinking about storytelling and sisterhood.

International Women’s Day takes place on 8 March. New releases that kick off the celebrations include inspiring women’s football documentary Copa 71, and the thought-provoking new drama from ground-breaking director Ava Duvernay, Origin. Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall returns to our screens to celebrate Triet’s Best Director Academy Award nomination – the only woman to get the nod this year.

We will be joined in person by two women directors. Shireen Pasha presents her rarely-seen documentary Hima on Monday 11, whilst Ramata-Toulaye Sy will attend a preview of her Senegalese drama Banel and Adama on Tuesday 12, which returns daily from the Friday 15. Another special preview and Q&A, this time with award-winning actress Vicky Knight, takes place on Sunday 17.

Silver Haze is the new film from writer-director Sacha Polak (Dirty God) and it’s another stunning slice of British realism, with Q&A hosted by Showroom friends Reclaim the Frame, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of films by people of marginalised genders. Capping off a month of special events is a virtual Q&A with prolific teenage filmmaker, Alice Maio Mackay, alongside a preview of her campy trans horror Satranic Panic, in collaboration with our partners at Celluloid Screams, on the 30 March.

Even our Family Time strand is set to celebrate women’s stories, with relaxed, accessible Saturday Morning screenings of Turning Red and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret getting us in the mood for Mother’s Day. These are followed in the second half of the month with a focus on women artists with Ernest and Celestine, based on the picture books by Gabrielle Vincent, and non-F-Rated title The Iron Giant selected to go alongside new release Robot Dreams, inspired by the beloved graphic novel by Sara Varon.

F-Rating’s aren’t just about directors; we celebrate screenwriters too. Other March releases include Ethan Coen’s Drive Away Dolls, the screenwriting debut of Tricia Cooke, a frequent editor on Coen Brothers films, and Drift, co-written by Dirty God’s Susanne Farrell. Juggling both roles, The Persian Version is written and directed by filmmaker Maryam Keshavarz, and went on to win the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award in 2023. We can’t wait to share this, and all of these amazing women-led films - with audiences in Sheffield!

Discover all of our F-Rated films here

Discover the collaborations of Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams in Kelly and Michelle season here

Discover our special screenings including previews and Q+As here