Women Aren’t Funny, a season celebrating 13 films directed & written by women from the 1940s to today, opened with Dorothy Arzner’s Dance, Girl, Dance.
Explore the season and book tickets: https://www.thegardencinema.co.uk/season/women-arent-funny/
Arzner was for some years, Hollywood’s only working female director. Our panel – a curator, a comedian and an Arzner academic – break down the history of women in Hollywood, what the film tells us about gender and sexuality in early Hollywood, and its impact today.
Melanie Iredale is a film curator, cultural activist, and director of Reclaim The Frame – a charity with a mission to champion films by filmmakers of all marginalised genders and to build audiences for them. In partnership with cinemas, distributors and festivals across the UK and beyond, #ReclaimTheFrame creates impactful and inclusive campaigns, advocating for equity in all film spaces.
Caroline Cassin is a film and cultural events programmer, who recently graduated with an MA in Film Studies, Programming and Curation from the National Film and Television School. Caroline hosts monthly pre-Code cinema series, Women & Cocaine, at the Cinema Museum in London, and she curated the recent retrospective on Dorothy Arzner at the BFI. Her projects explore and re-examine women’s history in the film industry, both behind and in front of the camera.
Mary O’Connell is an award-winning silly billy, comedian and writer coming box fresh off her sold out, critically acclaimed, debut solo hour ‘Money Princess’. Named “Top 15 Must-See Comedy Shows 2023” by Rolling Stone, “Top 12 Rising Stars” by Evening Standard and called ‘one of the most relatable shows of the fringe’ by The Telegraph. She recently did a run of her hour at the Soho Theatre and has recently done tour support for Tig Notaro. Mary’s performance style is a mix of observational annoyance combined with a left-field view of the world that makes for hilarious and often absurd material. Can be seen on Comedy Central Live and BBC3’s Stand Up for Live Comedy.
Follow Mary on Instagram: https://instagram.com/marywiththegoldshoes
Recorded on 7th June 2024 at The Garden Cinema
39-41 Parker Street London WC2B 5PQ