Wellywood Woman

Introducing The Complex Female Protagonist Roars This year, I got a stall at the local queer fair  Out in The Park , to sell my neonics-free bee-loved flowering plants , another artist's beautiful work and this cap, which I had made in New Zealand from a design by the Bluestocking Film Series , thanks to its director, Kate Kaminski. The fair was postponed – Wellington wind – so I distributed some caps to family and Facebook friends. I’m delighted that the new owners tell me stories about when they choose to wear the caps, how they feel wearing them, the responses of those they meet when wearing them. Wearing a cap with the Complex Female Protagonist slogan has many effects. I love it. Last year, when I wrote Get Your Hopes Up , near International Women’s Day, I recalled what David Mamet wrote, about drama being about the creation and deferment of hope. This year, because of those caps and the stories their owners tell me, my mind and heart are on the Complex Female P...

I was very excited when I saw CampbellX’s Stud Life in New Zealand’s Out Takes Film Festival programme . I’ve been longing to see it. And wanted to see it for the first time on a big screen because when I’ve seen some of Campbell’s earlier work online it’s seemed very cinematic. Too cinematic for my laptop. An actor, cinematographer, curator and writer, Campbell's directed BD Women (1994), Viva Tabatha (1995), Ragga Gyal D'bout! (2006),  Legacy (2006),  Fem (2007), Paradise Lost (2007) and  Broken Chain (a collaboration with writer Mark Norfolk 2008). She also collaborates with other directors , including Cheryl Dunye and Lisa Gornick. CampbellX For me, Campbell is also a visionary. Her Radical Film Manifesto has inspired me and her social media practices have provided me with models to follow. And as I write this on Mothers Day, I'm reminded that there are diverse definitions of 'motherhood' and that we need to keep track of our filmmaker ma...