Women Over 50 Film Festival: A Place to Be Seen and Heard on Screen

https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/nq67u2/WOFFFfinal2_-_8_29_21_104_PM6lr1x.mp3

EPISODE SUMMARY:

As founder of Women Over 50 Film Festival, or WOFFF, Nuala O’Sullivan is giving older women the opportunity for their stories to be heard and seen by audiences worldwide. In today’s episode, we sat down with Nuala to discuss WOFFF, the film requirements, some of the submissions for the 2021 festival, and how you can both register and purchase tickets for the film festival. First, we asked Nuala about what inspired her to create the Women Over 50 Film Festival. She explained that after writing her short film “Microscope”, she went to various short film festivals to submit it and was disappointed to see the lack of representation for older women. Later, when she was at a bar, she realized that not only was she the oldest in the room, but that her age seemed to make her invisible to those around her. After speaking with some of her female friends and realizing they had all faced the issue of feeling invisible in midlife, they decided to band together to change their narrative. They decided to create WOFF as a space where everyone felt welcome, especially women in midlife and older.

For film submissions requirements, Nuala told us that the main rule is that all films must have either a woman over fifty at the heart of the film or the crew must have a woman over fifty as a writer, producer, or director. However, a person of any age can submit their short film for consideration. When asked about her vision for WOFF, Nuala said she hopes to create a space where women can have conversations about shared experiences and to play a role in changing the entertainment industry’s ageist ideals. We then spoke about how Nuala chooses which movies to screen at WOFF each year. In 2021, WOFF received 300 short film submissions, with 57 of them being chosen. For Nuala, the most important factor she looks for in films is a compelling story with an older woman not only mentioned but at the heart of it. Films are separated and screened in various categories, with prizes being awarded in each one. A student film is also awarded in every category and student filmmakers can submit their work into WOFF for free. 1000 pounds is also rewarded to three filmmakers.

We then talked about some of the films that will be shown at WOFF this year. One short film “The Prat in the Hat”, centers around a woman named Dr. Francis Prat and her hat collection, with the story tying into history and civil rights. Another film, titled “Take Away”, is an animated film that was hand drawn with charcoal. It portrays the story of a bird that makes its nest using blue plastic forks. “Midlife, The Skin We’re In” shows three midlife women discussing how they feel about their bodies, and “Edith Gibson has 3000 dolls” shows a woman who owns 3000 dolls. Another film, “Duchess of the Sea”, shows women competing in a sailing competition.

Finally, we asked Nuala about festival dates and ticket sales. The Women Over 50 Film Festival will be held this year from September 25^th to October 2^nd and will take place virtually. You can buy a ticket or ticket pass online for any of the films and film categories and can vote for your favorite after watching. On October 2^nd, WOFF will be hosted in person in East Sussex and the winners will be announced. To buy tickets and learn more, you can visit the WOFFF website, wofff.co.uk or go to any of their social media pages.

Nuala O’Sullivan

Nuala O’Sullivan is the founder of Women Over 50 Film Festival – a celebration of older women in front of and behind the camera.

At the BBC World Service she created, wrote and produced the interactive, online soap opera, The Flatmates, for English language learners.

Nuala is the author of Teaching English in South-East Asia and English Grammar Workbook for Dummies.

She has written plays for theatre and has been a series writer for the BBC Radio 4 drama Brief Lives.

In 2014 she wrote and produced a short film, Microscope, and it was her experience of submitting this short to film festivals and attending festivals that brought home to her how underrepresented older women were on both sides of the camera. She set up Women Over 50 Film Festival as a positive and practical response to this lack of visibility so that older women in film would have a platform dedicated to them and their work.

Women Over 50 Film Festival (WOFFF)

Women Over 50 Film Festival (WOFFF) champions and showcases the work of older women on screen and behind the camera with an annual short film festival and year-round events and film screenings.

Every film WOFFF screens has a woman over 50 at the heart of it on screen or a woman over 50 as the writer, producer or director. There’s no upper age limit and all genders are invited to submit films.

WOFFF addresses the ageism and sexism many women face in the film industry. WOFFF screens films celebrating older women on both sides of the camera. WOFFF believes inclusive spaces to watch films together and conversations between generations of women can help make older and younger women feel less isolated and feel more connected. WOFFF welcomes everyone – all ages, all genders – to attend its films and events.