Bordeaux, the capital of women

by Fabien Lemercier

19/09/2003 - The French city will be hosting an international film festival for and by women from September 22 to 28. There are lots of European works in the various sections and in competition for the Golden Wave

The 5th edition of the Bordeaux International Festival of Women’s Cinema is due to start on September 22. The event will be continuing until September 28 and includes the usual competitions for long and short films competing for Golden Wave prize. There’s be special screenings, conferences, round table debates and a review dedicated to Female Britain.

After featuring authors like Gurinder Chadha (Bend it Like Beckham [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Lone Scherfig (Italian for beginners), Solveig Anspach (Haut les coeurs) and Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher), the Bordeaux festival has a reputation for discovery talented European women filmmakers, and the 2003 edition continues this trend. There are 8 feature length films in competition, five of which are from the Old Continent. The jury, including Catherine Breillat, have to choose the best film from: Twinni by the Austrian Ulrike Schweiger Calendar girls by the British director Nigel Cole , Blind Spot by the Slovenian Hanna Slak, the Greek-German co-production Hard Goodbyes: my father written and directed by Penny Panayotopoulou and Wilbur wants to kill himself [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by the Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig.
In addition there’s a section for international films, called “Découvertes”, which will be featuring Au commencement était le regard by the Austrian Bady Minck and Des épaules solides by the Swiss director Ursula Meier. Then there are 7 films being sown out of competition, including the co-production between France, Poland and Germany La petite prairie aux bouleaux by Marceline Loridan-Ivens. The retrospective will be giving an overview of British production and is organised by the British Film Council, featuring some films by Emily Young, Lynne Ramsay and Sally Potter.
There will also be a series of industry meetings, including conferences discussing issues like "The Short Film: a fragile economy", "Possible connections between Argentinean Cinema and Digital" and "Make-Up techniques for cinema".