Beyond Bechdel

OH NO WHITE MAN PRIVILEGE ALERT! Correct, this is an episode about a TV show produced by a white, straight, male showrunner, BUT it's different, we promise. The Premise is a new comedy anthology on Disney+ (shocking) looking at our pre-conceived ideas about gender, morality, race and sex and turning them on their heads to hopefully bring empathy, education and thought to our polarised times. Contrarah was blown away at the quality of the writing, directing and star power involved, but, even with a huge array of female talent on board, it doesn't seem to have hit the collective consciousness. Shout out to Jia Tolentino, Darya Zhuk, Lillian Yu, Josie Duffy Rice, Alexandra Ruddy, Dina Hashem and more! Come for the recommendations and laughs, stay for the...butt plugs? Have thoughts? Email beyondbech@gmail .com, tweet @Beyond_Bechdel or message on BeyondBechdel.com We f***ing Love You!

We invite back the delightful and witty Courtney Hodgkiss (https://twitter.com/courtneyishere) to talk movies that are so awe-inspiring, breathtaking, maddening and emotional that you can't stop yourself shouting about them to anyone who'll listen. We came up with ten, count em, TEN movies that fit the bill - using various weird sub-categories and went to town talking about the joy and pain of the stories these movies tell.  Let us know what we missed. Because visual-storytelling is what makes us human.

We are back in the cinema with a big, bold action movie that celebrates sound and champions hearing loss - A Quiet Place: Part 2.  Join Contrarah for an episode about what the film represents, if it's any good and how Millicent Simmonds is its runaway star. This episode contains SPOILERS in certain places, so please consult the running order below if you don't want to be spoiled. 00:00 - 01:25.  Intro 01:25 - 11.46.   Spoiler free recap and review 11:47 - 25:25.   Full plot summary BURSTING WITH SPOILERS - listen at your peril! 25:25 - 34.36.   Millicent Simmonds discussion, celebrating hearing-impaired actresses. Impaired NEVER means lesser!     

Filmmaker Ella Greenwood packed in a lot in the last couple of years. She made an award-winning short film about her struggles with teenage mental health issues (Faulty Roots), she made an animated film to bring those discussion topics to a younger audience (Dreary Days), she started working on her next film Self Charm with the award-winning Bukky Bakray and she was announced as one of the Forbes' 30 under 30 (at age 19). Ella takes Contrarah through this story, her work with Broken Flames - her company helping to shine a light on teen mental health issues and all the people that helped Ella bring her stories to life. A comedy and horror lover, Ella also waxes lyrical on her love of TV and how female filmmakers are always so much more qualified than they think they are. Click the links for more: Faulty Roots  Dreary Days Read more about all of Ella's work here  Special thanks to Latoya.

This is a real treat of an episode for anyone wanting tips on how to find work in cinema, and for anyone who loves Paris (that's everyone, surely?) Contrarah is joined by director, actress, writer and film festival producer Jenna Suru to talk about the Paris International Film Festival and her film career, including her feature L'Age D'or (The Golden Age), and film reviewer, content creator and PR guru Latoya Austin AKA Franglais27 about her fantastic career and how these two women came to know one another. The episode is divided into parts on the film festival, film journalism, directing a feature, career advice and of course, Bechdel passing and failing movies! Find out more about our guests here: Jenna Suru on Facebook, @jennasuru on Twitter @belleepoquefilms on Instagram and Facebook & Twitter,  @lagedorfilm (The Golden Age) on Instagram, Twitter , Facebook and the Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk_PVbgTUIrklZaT1DnC9wQ  More on The Paris International Film Festival can be found at: https://www.parisintlfest.com/  Find Latoya at: @franglais27 on Twitter and Instagram and at the website www.Franglais27tales.com and find out more about the Birds Eye View agency's Reclaim the Frame campaign or search using #ReclaimtheFrame Hope to see you all in St Tropez real soon!

To celebrate and commemorate LGBTQ History Month (in the UK) we take a look at lesbian cinema, focusing on movies that put gay relationships front and centre. Join Contrarah and Nick as they discuss what's good and bad about films made in the 1960s, the 2010s and right now in 2021, and the complexities of putting queer stories about women on screen. 

Welcome to a new era...of (hopefully) better, kinder government.  The film industry has seen its fair share of political scandal and Contrarah wonders if we can learn lessons from movies, especially those made many years ago. We discuss 5 movies spanning a period of worldwide political upheaval from the 1940s all the way to end of the last century, and find an uncanny resonance with what's happening in 2021. Join us for a trip down memory lane just before a new US inauguration. 

This is part 3 of a now 4-part series (screw chronology) because Mank is a movie with so many layers it demands its own episode! While David Fincher is definitely not the greatest closet feminist of all time, Mank says a lot about Hollywood hierarchies, gender roles, politics and numerous power battles. It's a masterpiece, and requires an explainer. So Contrarah and Nick watched both Mank and Citizen Kane, to help them take you through all of the inside baseball that Fincher delivers about a certain Herman J Mankiewicz. It's the Magic of the Movies, baby!

In Part 2 of this series, we're still to determine whether David Fincher is the greatest closet feminist of all time?  In this period Fincher starts to utilise a range of female characters, takes a view on disability and even hires some (read: a few) people of colour.  But we cannot deny that the brilliantly dark auteur treats people as people, and that's to be commended.  Come listen to our amusing analysis, where Fincher's dark soul tries to reach for the light! David Fincher - friend or foe of film feminism? The jury's still out...

We have a legal theme for this episode, asking: how is the law serving women on screen?  Contrarah analyses a new Netflix show that might be doing more harm than good, followed by a quick retrospective of a legal titan. You want to lay down the law? Contact us at  beyondbechdel.com Tweet us  Send us an email  "You can disagree without being disagreeable."

While we work on season 3, let's look at some things we love, and some that we loathe. In this episode: reading matter!

Contrarah is joined by Nick again for a new bonus episode on some excellent new films with a common theme. Firstly there's a discussion on enjoying versus enduring a movie, with our take on Joker. Before the main event: looking in depth at two powerful movies directed by directors at the top of their game: * Portrait of a Lady on Fire * Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always Join us to discover why we need to be championing this type of innovative cinema. Have thoughts? Contact us by email at beyondbech@gmail.com or on twitter at @beyond_bechdel. BLACK LIVES MATTER