Women in film was a hot topic in 2015, both behind and in front of the camera, and there’s no doubt that gender disparity remains a huge problem for the industry. This year has, however, seen a number of filmmakers create strong, memorable and diverse female characters, and I wrote the following piece in celebration of the best of them for the British Independent Film Awards ceremony brochure.
Tangerine
Tangerine (2015)
Writer-director Sean Baker’s blistering Tangerine is a truly astonishing piece of filmmaking – and not just because it was shot using three iPhones. While that is clearly a huge achievement in itself, Baker uses that ultra-portable filming device to access the fringes of Los Angeles and shine a light on those human stories rarely given an audience.