Birds Eye View Film Festival begins
According to the ladies at Birds Eye View, “film is the most powerful medium of our time, but only 7% of directors are women,” and so the Birds Eye View Film Festival aims to redress the balance somewhat by showing the best of international female-helmed films. As Birds Eye View patron, Joanna Lumley, puts it, "if this is what being a bird is, I'm proud to be one"
The festival started on Thursday 1st June at 7pm, and will continue until Sunday 4th June, so get in there while you can. The The first day's line-up consisted of 5 shorts on various subjects, which include a boy whose mother thinks he is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, a man’s journey to find his estranged mother in North Africa and an animation set in a refugee reception centre. The shorts were introduced by the renowned actress Fiona Shaw.
Over the next few days, there will be more shorts screenings as well as some feature films, a “Bring a Baby” event, which, uniquely, promises to let mums “have your finger on the pulse and breast feed,” a live comedy event, and lots of workshops and Q&A sessions with successful female directors. Some of the big names attending 
include Andrea Arnold (who recently won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes for 
Red Road) and Martha Fiennes (bringing her feature Chromophobia with her). There will also be many a drinks event after screenings, and an awards ceremony on Sunday evening. The events take place at the Apollo West End, and tickets can be booked in advance. For more information, check out http://www.birds-eye-view.co.uk/index.htm.
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