‘The Cinema of Older Women’ showcases at Cork arts centre

AS a film critic, the rise of female voices and stories in the last few years has been noticeable.

It is a long time coming, but the journey is far from over. Just seven women have been nominated for Best Director in the Oscars’ 94 years; only three have won.

While this disparity is vast, one group is even more overlooked: older female filmmakers. No-one bats an eyelid that Martin Scorsese and Werner Herzog are 80, or that Ridley Scott is 85 and embarking on a sequel to Gladiator.

Like many things in life, older women are overlooked in favour of their male counterparts.

Dr Neasa Fitzpatrick, Specialist Registrar in Geriatric Medicine at Cork’s Mercy University Hospital, wants people to see ageing positively, and with Triskel Cinema has programmed a season of films titled ‘Reframing Ageing: The Cinema of Older Women’.

According to Dr Fitzpatrick, ageing has many advantages.

“Ageing is too often discussed under the framework of failure, disability and restriction, and this is especially true in our own work in healthcare.

“However, there are also enormous benefits and advantages to later life, not least of which are the skills and insights one has developed by this stage of life.”

Fitzpatrick says she got the idea for the season when she was exploring the work of older filmmakers.

I was looking at the work of older filmmakers as a demonstration of the positive elements of ageing, as well as the challenges, and thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase their work for Positive Ageing Week this year.

The doctor says that older women make a particularly interesting study as they are often the most underestimated members of society, and Chris O’Neill, head of cinema at Triskel, agreed.

“Triskel met this idea with great enthusiasm, equally keen to showcase the talents of these phenomenal women. I was delighted with the opportunity to collaborate with them on the programme, and greatly appreciate their work in bringing this season to the public.”

O’Neill says he has wanted to programme a season of films by older filmmakers for quite some time.

“I’ve wanted to host some film seasons focusing on the works of Sally Potter and Claire Denis for some time now, but tracking down the rights and materials to certain films has been tricky. When Neasa proposed a themed season featuring both directors and Agnes Varda, I thought it was a great idea. It allows us to screen some wonderful films and have them shown during Positive Ageing Week.”

The programme has three films: Face Places, Both Sides of the Blade, and The Party.

Agnès Varda is regarded as the mother of French New Wave cinema. She started her filmmaking career in the 1950s and broke the mould, forging a path for female filmmakers not just in France but worldwide. A photographer, a feminist, and a social activist, she continued working until she died in 2019, aged 90.

In 2017, the Academy Awards gave Varda an Honorary Award for her lifetime contribution to film. She was the first female director to receive the award and just one of a few women to appear on the list since the honorary awards were first introduced in 1955.

Face Places was released in 2017 and nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2018. The documentary sees the octogenarian director travelling across France with a 30-something street photographer, JR.

They photograph the people they meet through their travels and present the images as giant murals. Throughout, Varda doesn’t shy away from her age, openly discussing what it is to have an 80-something-year-old body, yet she is just as vibrant and creative as ever.

The filmmaker Claire Denis was born in France but moved to Africa shortly after her birth. Her family travelled with her father, who was in the army, returning to France when she was a teen. She once said that after returning to France, she was “already nostalgic for another world”.

Perhaps this search for another world makes her films so intense and passionate. Denis understands what it means to truly feel; she can lay it all out on the screen for us to experience.

In 2022, aged 76, Denis made Both Sides of the Blade, a film that sees the relationship between Sara (Juliette Binoche) and Jean (Vincent Lindon) become unstable when Sara reconnects with an old lover. The film won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The final film is Sally Potter’s The Party. London-born Potter began making films as a teenager in the 1960s. If Varda is the mother of French New Wave cinema, Potter is undoubtedly the mother of British female-led filmmaking. She once said she was laughed at for wanting to make films and “had to create the opportunities for myself and make these pieces of work whether they wanted me to or not”.

Potter edited, designed, produced and carried out numerous roles in her films to get them made. Her passion and determination paid off.

The Party stars Kristen Scott Thomas as a newly appointed parliamentary minister who hosts a dinner party for her closest friends, including Cillian Murphy and Emily Mortimer. It is not long before the party takes a turn, showcasing Potter’s penchant for sharp and witty dialogue.

‘Reframing Ageing: The Cinema of Older Women’ plays in Triskel Cinema from October 2-4, triskelartscentre.ie