Review: SUFFRAGETTE Screening and Q&A, Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall's screening of the 2015 film Suffragette was followed by a Q&A with members of the film's creative team and women's rights activists as part of their 'Women and the Hall' programme. In association with Birds Eye View Film, the screening and Q&A highlighted the importance of films about women made by women and the connection between the Hall and the Suffragettes.

As the Royal Albert Hall archivist said in a brief introduction before the film was shown, the Hall is the perfect venue for a screening as it was a popular place for Suffragette meetings and the site where movement leader and founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) Emmeline Pankhurst gave her most militant speech in 1912.

The film follows the politicization of Maud Watts, a 24-year-old laundry worker played by Carey Mulligan who reluctantly becomes a member of the Suffragette movement. Directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan, it was fairly well received when it was released in 2015.

It melds fiction with historical fact, interspersing fictional characters like Maud and militant Suffragette Edith Ellyn (played by Helena Bonham Carter) with historical figures like Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep) and Emily Davison (Natalie Press).

Suffragette is a powerful and masterfully made film. It manages to demonstrate so many of the reasons why the Suffragettes were fighting - child custody laws, the vote, sexual harassment in the work place, domestic violence, the wage gap - in just 100 minutes. It strikes a delicate balance between portraying the political history of the movement and weaving a fictional tale that keeps the audience emotionally involved.

The style is almost documentary-like; some of it was clearly filmed on handheld cameras. The realistic style and the angles of many of the shots make you feel as if you are there witnessing the action. It's a far cry from your typical polished turn-of-the-century period film. It's gritty and gripping; in truth, the scene in which a character in prison is force fed after being on hunger strike was too much for me to watch.

The entire cast give stunning performances. Meryl Streep's brief appearance as Emmeline Pankhurst is exciting and well done while Helena Bonham Carter brings a dignified gravity to her part that is a bit unexpected from a woman known for her more whimsical work.

In the Q&A, they revealed that Bonham Carter is the great-granddaughter of H. H. Asquith, the prime minister during the time the film is set who was the enemy of the Suffragettes as he strongly opposed suffrage. It was a compelling reminder that the history of the women's suffrage movement is shockingly recent.

The film's cast boasts many West End connections as Romola Garai was in Queen Anne and Anne-Marie Duff was in Heisenberg this past autumn. Carey Mulligan just closed Girls & Boys while Ben Whishaw is currently playing Brutus in Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre.

The Q&A was led by producer Mia Bays and included the film's director Sarah Gavron, writer Abi Morgan, and producer Alison Owen to represent the film.

Special guests were Catherine Mayer (journalist and co-founder of the Women's Equality party), Nimco Ali (an activist, co-founder and director of Daughters of Eve, and founding member of the Women's Equality Party), and Helen Pankhurst (activist and great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst).

When asked what gave them the idea to make the film, Gavron said she was shocked that there wasn't a film already about the Suffragettes. They wanted the movie to not just show the Pankhurst story or the sanitized polite middle class part of the fight for women's suffrage, but to be "a film about the foot soldiers", according to Morgan.

Helen Pankhurst raised the issue of the film's lack of diversity early in the discussion. The film came under criticism when it first premiered due to the lack of racial diversity, however the creative team said they felt the film was being unfairly expected to represent many women's stories in a way more male films often are not. They pointed out that while the Suffragette movement was intersectional in some ways (sexuality, social class, etc.), it was lacking in racial diversity.

Activist Nimco Ali said that many women who see the film can relate to Maud as a working-class woman, regardless of race. The creative team added that they appreciate the discourse and think it's important if it doesn't prevent people from seeing the film as it's vital to support female-driven movies if we want more of them.

The Q&A also focused on the relevance of the film to today's world. Helen Pankhurst said that compared to when the film first came out, "Watching it now, I think it resonates even more". Mayer said that many of the issues in the film like the pay gap and sexual harassment in the work place are the same issues women's rights activists are campaigning about today. "We are still fighting for a lot of the things the Suffragettes were fighting for", she remarked.

Another theme was the need for more films about women made by women. (Mayer at one point joked, "How many films are there about Churchill?") Many of the panellists spoke about the necessity of having a diverse range of female films created by female ensembles.

Mayer stated that investors will fund what has been proven successful in the past so the more female driven films that do well, the more will be made. "Men are trained to think women aren't interesting", she said and thus we need to prove them wrong.

During the open part of the Q&A, I asked the panel what they thought the role of film was in the women's movement. Owen responded that film is about gaze and it's one of the only ways that you can experience the female gaze (or the gaze of any minority group) in a meaningful way. This makes it a tool not just for showing other women the female experience, but showing men as well.

The night ended on a positive note, as the activists discussed the work ahead: eliminating violence against women (including FGM), changing beliefs, and challenging social norms. It felt like a special opportunity to see an incredible film about the Suffragettes and hear a panel of intelligent, well-spoken women discuss it, all with a Pankhurst descendent herself in the room.

The 'Women and the Hall' programme continues through the month of April at the Royal Albert Hall.

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