Women Over 50 Film Festival

Women Over 50 Film Festival (WOFFF) is a festival founded in Brighton, UK, in 2015, to address age and gender imbalances faced by older women in the film industry. The festival screens films that have a woman over 50 in a key creative role (writer, producer, director), or are about a woman over 50.

Women Over 50 Film Festival
WOFFF
LocationBrighton, UK
Established2015
Websitehttp://wofff.co.uk/

History

Women Over 50 Film Festival (WOFFF) is a Community Interest Company, established in 2015. The goal behind the organization is to redress not only the gender imbalance present in the film industry, but the even greater gap experienced by older women.[1] The organization cites industry research indicating that out of 2000 films analyzed, women between the ages of 42 and 69 spoke only 20% of the dialog, while men of the same age range spoke about 40% – twice as much.[2] This, in addition to the general gap indicated by the Directors UK organization, which reported that of over 2,500 films made from 2005 to 2014, only 13% were directed exclusively by women.[1]

The festival aims are to:

  • Showcase the work of older women on screen and behind the camera
  • Create a film community centered around older women
  • Help combat isolation and loneliness in older women[3]

WOFFF declares itself inclusive and intersectional,[1][3] and has grown steadily since its inception.[4][5] In 2015, the prototype event was held, entitled "Short Hot Flush Film Festival". At this event, 27 international short films were screened, a panel event was conducted, and four prizes were awarded.[6] By 2019, over 50 films were screened, including two features, and the number of attendees and accompanying events grew accordingly, to include workshops, panels, lectures and master classes.[1] In 2020, due to restrictions put in place during COVID-19, WOFFF become a 5-day online festival, screening 58 short films, hosting 8 virtual filmmaker Q&A sessions and a lecture by Dr. Francesca Sobande of Cardiff University.

The WOFFF lecture

WOFFF hosts an annual lecture concentrating on older women in film and tv. Academics invited to deliver lectures from English, Welsh and US universities and their lecture topics have included:

Year Lecture delivered by From Lecture Title
WOFFF17 Dr Patricia McManus University of Brighton Women over 50 in Dystopian Fictions The Handmaid's Tale Gender and Race
WOFFF18 Dr. Deborah Jermyn University of Roehampton “Your Age is One of My Favorite Things About You”: The Ageing Romcom Heroine in the

Films of Nancy Meyers

WOFFF19 Dr. Brenda Weber Indiana University Bloomington I am (Older) Woman: Hear Me Roar!: Rethinking the Incredible Invisible Older Woman
WOFFF20 Dr. Francesca Sobande Cardiff University Black women over 50 on screen: from intersectional oppression in the industry to defying ageist agendas

Awards

Awards are granted in the following categories:

  • Audience Choice Award
  • Best Animation
  • Best Documentary
  • Best Drama
  • Best Experimental
  • Best Short Script
  • Best Student Film

The award-winning films then participate in the "WOFFF Best of the Fest" tour around the UK.

Past winners
YearAwardWorkWinner
Audience Choice Award Home Movie Caroline Pick
2015Best AnimationMend and Make DoBexie Bush
Best DocumentaryHome MovieCaroline Pick
Best DramaSewing SolutionsMarc Beidul
2016 Audience Choice Award One Last Dance Luke Losey
Best Animation My Friend Marjorie   Louise Wilde 
Best Documentary Belle and Emma Rebecca Johanson
Best Drama The Other Place   Mareike Engelhardt
Best Experimental The Wake Oonagh Kearney
2017 Audience Choice Award Days of Awe Rehanna Rose
Best AnimationEspressivo: A Love Song to CoffeeDeb Ethier
Best ExperimentalCherry Colour ButtonholesBrenda Miller
Best DocumentaryRebel MenopauseAdele Tulli
Best DramaThe HideGaynor Macfarlane
2018 Audience Choice Award Edek Malcolm Green
Best Animation Tough Jennifer Zheng
Best Documentary I’m Fine Lucretia Knapp
Best Drama The Matchmaker Leonora Pitts
Best Experimental Edek Malcolm Green
Best Student Film Grandmother    Heather Dirckze, Charanpreet Khaira, Melina Campos
2019 Audience Choice Award We Were Thamesmead Lucia Tambini
Best Animation In the House of Paper Flowers Anita George
Best Documentary We Were Thamesmead Lucia Tambini
Best Drama The Last Mermaid Fi Kelly
Best Experimental House of Our Own Dagmar Scheibert
Best Short Script Love Is Dylanne Corcoran
Best Student Film Forget-Me-Not Sarah Smith

See also

References
  1. "Women Over 50 Film Festival". Film Freeway. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  2. "Film Dialogue from 2,000 screenplays, Broken Down by Gender and Age". The Pudding. April 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  3. "About WOFFF". Women Over 50 Film Festival. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  4. "Women Over 50 Film Festival Unveils The Full 2017 Programme". The Giving Times. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  5. "WOFFF – Women Over Fifty Film Festival". Lewes Depot. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  6. "WOFFF Story". Women Over 50 Film Festival. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
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