Women on the big screen at Newcastle Community Centre (NCC).
Newcastle Community Cinema is marking International Women’s Day with two films celebrating ordinary and extraordinary women. With gender equality now firmly on the agenda, these free and inclusive events bring real women and girls’ stories in documentary form to Newcastle.
On Friday 6 March 2020, the documentary Shooting the Mafia (cert. 15, 94 minutes, in Italian & English) tells the life story of Italian photographer and photojournalist, Letizia Battaglia. After raising her children, she picked up a camera for the first time and started to photograph the brutal reality of the mafia and their victims in Sicily. The film reveals how Battaglia, now 84, had the courage to challenge Sicily’s deep social and gender prejudices, change the course of her life and bring us astonishing images of the devastation wrought by the mafia.
The film is a Screen Ireland co-production, and its producer, Niamh Fagan, will attend the screening to introduce the film and answer questions afterwards. Niamh first saw Battaglia’s striking black and white photographs in the Anti Mafia Museum in the Sicilian town of Corleone. She was so struck by the images that she was compelled to make a film about the photographer’s work. Doors open at 7pm, film starts at 7.30pm.
The second movie to celebrate International Women’s Day is on the day itself, Sunday 8 March 2020, with the 2020 UK Tour of the Feminista Film Festival.
The Festival presents a varied programme of short documentaries from around the world. It includes stories of girls demanding an education in northern Pakistan, a Hollywood starlet turned defender of wilderness and a woman’s quest to love her body again through wild swimming. Lasting a total of 95 minutes, the eight contemporary shorts are moving and fascinating.
To echo the diverse range of films, a pop-up info-market of local groups will showcase a diverse range of activities and causes in and around Newcastle. Just right for anyone – woman or man, young or old – in need of a boost of inspiration.
Feminista Film Festival and Tour is in its second year. It was set up by Laurie and Dan Mucha who believe stories about women and girls deserve a stronger voice. Through their love of documentary film, they want to inspire audiences and connect women and girls to female role models.
Over 20 cinemas around the UK are screening the Feminista Film Festival, with NCC as the only cinema in Northern Ireland so far. This celebration of International Women’s Day has been made possible with funds from the National Lottery to the British Film Institute, administered by QUB’s Film Hub NI.
Open from 2pm to 5pm. Take your seats to watch the films at 3pm. Pop-up info-market will be open before and after the screening.
For booking info, please go to:
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