Wellywood Woman

design by Louise Hutt (This post  looks much prettier here ; and is easier to read.) 125 years ago today, women in Aotearoa New Zealand got the vote. And my mate’s in town, for a posh Suffrage125 dinner. Writing Buddy 1B. You might remember her, from our conversation a couple of years back . Play with me, she begs, from the airport. He rā mīharo tēnei. We can garden. I’ll shout you lunch. You can help me pick a dinner-time frock. I can’t, I say. Gotta write about the #directedbywomen #aotearoa screening programme. Do it tomorrow, she says. Celebrate with me... I can’t, I say again. It’s the first screening tonight. The Bookshop , and Isabel Coixet is beaming in, live from Barcelona, for a Q&A. Isabel directing Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson on set with The Bookshop I think it’s the first time screening in this country has been followed by a live Skype with the film’s director. I’m nervous as. 1B – So? Haven’t you prepared? ME – Of course I have. And pe

September marks the fourth global #DirectedByWomen celebration. All round the world, people choose to watch films that women direct. In bed late at night on their phones. On the couch with mates and wine and popcorn and tea and biscuits. In cinemas with friends and strangers. Good to go, in Palma And in lots of other places, like this outdoor cinema  in Spain , where #DirectedByWomen has grown and grown. You can find events near you on the very full # DirectedByWomen catalogue . This year, by a wonderful coincidence, September is also the month where here in Aotearoa New Zealand we celebrate 125 years since Parliament passed the law that gave women the vote: Suffrage125. So there are films #directedbywomen all over the place! Starting in the north... and aware that I haven't included anything from Te Wai Pounamu/ the South Island (yet!) AUCKLAND In Auckland, at ACADEMY CINEMAS , there's There She Goes: Women's Countercinema in the 20th Century .    It s