by Danielle Hutchinson
Press and Publicity Officer, Awen Productions and Folklife Films
‘Gentle, Angry Women’ is the latest documentary film by award-winning Cornish film company Awen Productions. The story follows three young women as they retrace the march to Greenham Common, forty years on from the first Women’s Peace Protests.
The film has just won the Celtic Media Festival Torc Award for History (Screen) and director Barbara Santi believes that, in light of current conflicts, the message of Gentle, Angry Women is more relevant than ever.
“In a time when young people are grappling with climate crisis, global conflicts, and technological isolation, they need to see how previous generations of ‘gentle, angry women’ faced seemingly impossible odds and refused to give up. This history belongs to them, and they have a right to claim it.”
Following a sold-out premiere, the film is currently touring venues across the UK and will be heading to Sheffield in August.
Gentle, Angry Women will be screening at Showroom Cinema, Sheffield on Tuesday 4th August at 6pm. The film screening will be followed by a powerful pre-recorded Q&A with Director Barbara Santi, delving deeper into the story behind Gentle, Angry Women.
Poppy (16) joins her peers Xanthe (17) and Evie (19) on the 110-mile march to Greenham Common to uncover its lost legacy.
Along the way, they meet the Greenham Women who spent years at the peace camp, hearing their stories and prompting intergenerational conversations about the world today. The young women are passionate about a range of environmental and social justice issues, from Black Lives Matter, to climate change, women’s rights, and animal activism. Gentle, Angry Women provides a platform for connection and dialogue concerning the key issues of our time.
Audiences have found the film to be an inspiring watch.
“A really humbling story of collective women’s activism and a roller coaster of emotions for the audience.”
“Powerful, poetic, and unapologetically bold.”
The protest at Greenham Common lasted for 19 years and was one of the largest women’s movements in British history. Despite this, many people have never heard of Greenham Common, including the young protagonists in Gentle, Angry Women. Even the film’s director Barbara Santi herself admitted that she didn’t previously know much about the protests.
“I belong to the generation that should have inherited and passed on these stories, yet failed to do so,” she admits. “I’m working to repair that broken chain of women’s collective memory.”
“Every woman deserves to know her own history – yet an entire generation has been robbed of the knowledge that thousands of women once lived for years in makeshift camps, facing arrest and ridicule to prevent nuclear war.”
As well as highlighting the vital role of women in the Greenham Common Peace Protests, the film has created pathways for young women in the production of the documentary itself, allowing them to thrive in technical production roles.
Santi believes that giving a platform to uplift women emulates the ethos of the film itself.
“The film champions small acts of defiance and community building as powerful forms of resistance. At its heart, this is a film about hope – about finding strength in gentle anger and discovering that the most profound changes often begin with the smallest, most personal acts of courage.”
Tickets and further information about the film, including the trailer, can be found on the Folklife Films website, under ‘Gentle, Angry Women’.
Watch the trailer here
https://www.folklifefilms.co.uk/gentle-angry-women
Notes
Awen Productions CIC is an award-winning media production company based in West Cornwall.
Key links:
Gentle, Angry Women tour dates and tickets: https://www.folklifefilms.co.uk/gentle-angry-women
Sheffield tickets: https://showroomcinema.org.uk/film/perspectives-gentle-angry-women-recorded-qa
Awen productions: https://www.awen.org.uk/
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