Women Amateur Filmmakers in Britain: Secrets & Lies

The Women in Amateur Filmmakers in Britain collection contains over 140 films by women amateur filmmakers produced between the 1920s and 1980s that have been uncovered and digitised by the East Anglian Film Archive (EAFA), part of the University of East Anglia. Although largely overlooked until recently, women were centrally involved in amateur filmmaking over the last 90 years, and these films celebrate the creative role they have played. These filmmakers produced an impressive variety of films, including drama, comedy, animation, documentaries and travelogues.

A GAME FOR THREE

In this game of suburban ‘piggy in the middle’, a wife ponders her position as the ‘piggy’ as her husband has an affair with the au pair. But who decides the rules of the game, and how can the game be brought to an end?

THE STRAY

From Brief Encounter to The Duchess, films have often explored female desire and extra-marital affairs. Here Marjorie Martin creates a drama where a woman’s affair means she is rejected by her farmer husband – a drama that questions whether the ‘swinging sixties’ really was a period of newfound sexual freedom for women.

A BENCH IN THE PARK

Even before Audrey Hepburn had breakfast at Tiffany’s, cinema has been fascinated by enigmatic, glamorous young women. In this romantic drama a society girl regales a waiter with stories about her jet-set lifestyle – but this mysterious girl is not all she seems.

ONLY FOR A MOMENT

Could you give up the possibility of finding love? It’s a question that plagues the young Seminarian in this thought-provoking drama as he contemplates what he must give up in order to pursue his vocation.

FACE TO FACE

Sheila Graber carefully traces the ageing and life stages of man from birth into childhood, followed by adulthood, old age and – eventually – death in this detailed yet subtle pastel sketch animation.

FREAK  

Sandi Thom isn’t the only one who has wished she was a punk rocker. In this film, a schoolgirl’s dreams of becoming a punk rocker are shown through time-lapse photography showing how make-up and clothes can create an entirelynew and rebellious identity.