Maeve
British Film Institute • 1h 54m
Directed by Pat Murphy & John Davies • Drama • With Mary Jackson • 1981 • 90 minutes
Pat Murphy and John Davis’ experimental film attempts to posit an alternative, feminist perspective on the Troubles and Irish nationalism. Flitting between the various pasts and present, it follows the experiences of the titular character as she grows up under the spectre of sectarianism, leaves Belfast and then returns after years away.
Made during the period when theoretical debate informed both the subject matter and form of British independent film, Maeve attempts to subvert supposedly masculine traditions of film language with avowedly unusual and disruptive techniques, presenting a feminist alternative to the conventional narrative of the Troubles.
Up Next in British Film Institute
-
2 X 50 Years of French Cinema
Directed by Anne-Marie Miéville & Jean-Luc Godard • Documentary • With Michel Piccoli • 1995 • 50 minutes
Jean-Luc Godard produced this ambitious project, directed by his wife, Anne-Marie Miéville. Travelling around six regions (each of which featured in a classic film) he interviews young l...
-
100 Years of Japanese Cinema
Directed by Nagisa Oshima • Documentary • With William B. White, Nagisa Oshima • 1996 • 52 minutes
The forces and themes that have shaped his nation's cinema drive Nagisa Oshima's forceful and erudite essay. Based entirely on archive footage, it considers the rediscovery of Daisuke Ito's Chuji's...
-
40,000 Years of Dreaming
Directed by George Miller • Documentary • With George Miller • 1996 • 65 minutes
Mad Max director George Miller explores the tradition of film production in Australia, forging a link between the imported technology of filmmaking and the ancient Aboriginal creation myths. In parallel with tracing...
