The Gold Diggers + Are You Still Watching (short film) + Discussion U

Sally Potter’s ground-breaking debut explores themes of power in relation to capitalism and sexuality from a feminist and collaborative perspective. The film was written and produced by Lindsay Cooper, Rose English and Sally Potter, and made with an all-women crew, all of whom were on equal pay. Featuring ‘swinging sixties’ icon Julie Christie and Colette Laffont as two star crossed lovers, this musical and comic adventure tells of their inter-connected quests to understand the nature of money and the feminine ideal in a story that simultaneously subverts and sends up the Hollywood narrative.

+ short film ARE YOU STILL WATCHING? by Sissy Screens: Tali Polichtuk & Kitty Chrystal (Australia 2021, 6’)

Forced into near-isolation during Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdown, 20-year old Jamie keeps themselves entertained bingeing on queer film and TV. What begins as mere escapism turns sensual when they start having sexual delusions involving their favourite queer characters. Fantasy and reality merge as they recount their erotic encounters to their physician and receive an unusual diagnosis. Are You Still Watching? captures lockdown boredom and being perpetually horny and the emancipatory power of the queer imagination, told through vibrant animation.

Followed by post-screening discussion on collective filmmaking and film watching with writer, bookseller, curator & organiser So Mayer (Club Des Femmes) and Jackie Stacey, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Manchester – currently co-director of the Centre for the Study of Sexuality and Culture. Hosted by Melanie Iredale Director of Birds’ Eye View.

Join us in the foyer before and after the film for (free) Queerious-themed badge making!

Screening as part of Birds Eye View’s Queerious programme, exploring a multitude of desires on screen in ways we all too rarely see in cinema. Birds Eye View is a UK-wide charity with a mission to bring a broader perspective of the world through cinema. Through their #ReclaimTheFrame programme, they support films by women & non-binary people, with the aim of building a community for those who make, show, release and watch them.