Suffragettes on Film introduced by British Film Institute Curator Ros Cranston

Appalling behaviour, noise and violence are not usually traits associated with the British female, but for the first fifteen years of the 20th century the suffragettes battled with the authorities and society at large to make themselves heard. Cinema was born just as their campaign was gathering momentum and these fearless women made it their business to get in front of the cameras.

A SPECIAL FILM EVENING to celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage and International Women’s Day on 6th March, this selection of films from the BFI National Archive shows how suffragettes were portrayed at the cinema while their battles were still raging on the streets outside. It combines documentary footage with comedy films of the period, which joyously pushed the boundaries of what was considered acceptable behaviour at the time.

These gloriously anarchic pre-war comedies are full of bright sparks like the Tilly Girls (starring Alma Taylor and Chrissie White) who gleefully disobey society’s strictures. Women are seen acting like men, dressing in men’s trousers and even leaving the men at home minding the babies. The films reveal how girls and women were already acting differently, had higher aspirations and expected more freedom than their grandmothers could have imagined, going against conventional wisdom that female emancipation was a result of war-time changes.

The films will be introduced by Ros Cranston, who is Non-Fiction Film & TV Curator at the British Film Institute National Archive in London. Ros will be happy to answer audience questions after the screening. She has been a cataloguer, acquisitions officer and curator since she joined the BFI in 1992.