Monday 8th March marks International Women’s Day, a day for celebrating the achievements of women, increasing visibility, and calling out inequality. This year’s campaign theme is #BreakTheBias – and calls for us all to break the gender bias in our communities. As an F-rated cinema, we are committed to engaging with a diverse range of women’s voices on screen and behind the camera, so here’s a rundown of the films we’re showing in March (which also happens to be Women’s History Month) that highlight women’s stories or are made by women.  

Parallel Mothers is nearing the end of its impressive six-week run here at the Showroom. It is the story of two women – played powerfully by Penelope Cruz and Milena Smit - who form a strong bond as they confront motherhood. As they share their experience, their close bond develops and complicates, ultimately changing their lives in a decisive way. Don’t miss your last chance to catch it! 

Returning to Sheffield following its screening as part of London Film Festival last October, Ali & Ava is the latest film from Yorkshire-born director, Clio Barnard (The Arbor, The Selfish Giant). Charting an unlikely romance between two middle-aged Bradford residents, Barnard’s film weaves together social realism and romantic drama to present a nuanced and intelligent depiction of 21st century Britain. This tender and funny romance is an ode to the beauty of Bradford and its indomitable inhabitants.  

We’re also delighted to be hosting a screening of Audrey Diwan’s outstanding and timely Venice Golden Lion Winner, Happening,
on Tuesday 8th March as part of Glasgow Film Festival’s International Women’s Day Gala. Based on a memoir by Annie Ernaux, the film stars Anamaria Vartolomei as Anne, a French literature student at Angouleme University in the early 1960s. When Anne falls pregnant, her plans and hopes for the future are thrown into disarray. Abortion is illegal in France, and as the weeks pass Anne is faced with the awful prospect of having to take drastic action of her own.  

Think you know Frida Kahlo – the female icon known for her floral crowns, big brows and folk style clothing? Take an up-close look at her works and find out what lies beneath the surface of this intensely passionate woman and prolific artist in Exhibition on Screen: Frida Kahlo, showing on Tuesday 8th and Sunday 13th March. 

Also, not to be missed is Jennifer Peedom’s (Mountain) stunning new documentary, River, a mesmerising call to arms, showing the beauty of Earth’s rivers but also their function in the larger ecosystem. With a score by the Australian Chamber Orchestra and drawing on extraordinary satellite cinematography, this film is a real feast for the senses.  

Last but certainly not least, opening at the end of March are two triple-F rated films – Catarina Vasconcelos’ The Metamorphosis of Birds and Blerta Basholli’s Hive. Written and directed by women, as well as featuring rich and complex female characters, both are warm, intimate takes on true stories, but told in very different ways. Whilst The Metamorphosis of Birds is difficult to categorise, as a bold and inventive hybrid of memoir, metafiction, family history and magical realism, Hive is a warm and assured tribute to Fahrije Hoti, a Kosovan woman who quietly changed lives by rebelling against her village patriarchy and empowering other women in the process.  

Join us at Showroom this March to #BreakTheBias and engage with a diverse range of inspiring women’s voices on screen.