The Underwire Film Festival was an annual event observing short films made with a major female contribution. Held in London, this
film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online.
Films may be of recent ...
was dedicated to promoting and celebrating female talent across the UK television and film industry.
Underwire Awards recognise teamwork, skill, artistry, vision and endeavour of women who have excelled in key production roles, both as actors and from the production team.
History
The Underwire Film Festival began in 2010 founded by Gabriella Apicella and Gemma Mitchell to help tackle the gender imbalance within the film industry,
and focusses on short films.
2011 Underwire Festival co-director, Helen Jack, noted that the gap in 2011 between gender of short film directors, was quite possibly as high as one female to nine male directors.
In 2018, the number of film entries submitted to the Underwire Film Festival had grown to a purported 1000 submissions.
In its early years, the Underwire Festival awards were held at the
Ritzy Cinema
The Ritzy is a cinema in Brixton, London, England. It is a Grade II listed building. It is managed by Picturehouse Cinemas, who were bought by Cineworld in 2012.
The cinema opened on 11 March 1911 as "the Electric Pavilion". It was built by ...
in
Brixton
Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...
, London.
In recent years it has been held at the
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...
, London.
In its third year in 2012, the festival expanded as the number of short film submissions went up three-fold.
The 2020 festival was cancelled due to the
Covid-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
,
however, the Underwire Festival was due to make a return on September 5, 2021.
The Underwire Film Festival is a
BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
recognised film festival since 2015.
Underwire is no longer running and seems to have concluded with a final festival held in 2022.
Aims
The Underwire Awards are given in recognition of the teamwork, skill, artistry, vision or endeavour of women who have excelled in key production roles.
The long-term goal to improve equality statistics not just in front of the camera, but behind it too for traditionally male dominated roles like directing, producing, screenwriting, editing, cinematography, sound design, composing, production design and animation
The festival covers a broad range of genres including drama, documentary, music video, artist film and animation, with the only stipulations being, that one of the major production roles is led by a woman,
and that the film run time is 20 minutes or less.
The festival awards training and mentoring opportunities as part of the award prize.
Award categories
Each category receives a number of nominations from which the eventual winner is decided.
Categories are:
* Best Actor
* Under 25: for outstanding work by a female practitioner aged 15–25
* XX Award: for the best onscreen female protagonist
* Best Director
* Best Producer
* Best screenwriter
* Best Editor
* Best Cinematographer
* Best Composer
* Best Sound Designer
* Best Production Designer
* Best Animator
Award Winners timeline
Some previous winners include:
*
Lolita Chakrabarti
Lolita Chakrabarti (born 1969) is a British actress and writer.
Early life and education
Lolita Chakrabarti was born in Kingston upon Hull, England, to Bengali Hindu parents from India in 1969. She grew up in Birmingham, where her father wo ...
- best producer 2011
*
Francesca Fowler - best screenwriter 2012
*
Moira Buffini
Moira Buffini (born 29 May 1965) is an English dramatist, director, and actor.
Early life
Buffini was born in Cheshire to Irish parents, and attended St Mary's College at Rhos-on-Sea in Wales as a day girl. She studied English and Drama at Gold ...
- best screenwriter 2013
*
Shannon Tarbet - best actor 2013
*
Prano Bailey-Bond
Prano Bailey-Bond (born 1982) is a Welsh film director and writer. Her debut feature film, ''Censor (2021 film), Censor'', premiered in 2021.
Early life and education
Bailey-Bond was born in 1982 and grew up in Wales. She studied at London Col ...
- best director 2013
*
Mandeep Dhillon
Mandeep Dhillon (born 21 December 1990) is a British actress and singer who has appeared in stage, television, film and radio productions, including the BBC Three comedy series '' Some Girls'' and '' Fried''. She featured in the British romant ...
- best actor 2017
*
Anna Phoebe - best composer 2018
References
External links
{{Official website, https://www.facebook.com/underwirefestival Underwire Film Festival
Film festivals in London
Film festivals established in 2010
Short film festivals in the United Kingdom
Recurring events established in 2010