Jill Craigie: Film Pioneer
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sussex
Department Name: Sch of Media, Arts and Humanities
Abstract
Jill Craigie (1911 - 99) was one of Britain's earliest women documentary makers. Her career as a pioneering film-maker has been largely eclipsed in public memory by her position as the wife of former Labour leader, Michael Foot. Although a handful of other women managed to work in creative roles in the sector (including the Grierson sisters, Kay Mander and Margaret Thomson) and had some support from the Documentary Movement, Craigie's films stand out because of their overtly feminist and socialist politics, their attempt to juggle activism and entertainment, and a degree of critical recognition on their release. We will use Craigie as a case study to interrogate the historical frameworks and the canon of the British Documentary Movement which have undervalued women's contribution to the genre. We will explore what Craigie's life history reveals about the social and industrial factors which constrain, and sometimes enable, women's involvement in film production. Drawing on her extensive personal archive at the Women's Library and other sources, we investigate how Craigie managed in her short career as a director (1944 - 51) to negotiate both obstacles and opportunities. We look at how Craigie's witty, polemical films including 'The Way We Live' (1946) (on urban reconstruction), 'Out of Chaos' (1944), (the first arts documentary with Moore, Nash, Spencer and Sutherland) and 'To Be Woman' (1951) (a forceful, early argument about equal opportunities) present an unique, woman's perspective on the cultural and political challenges the nation faced during and after World War Two.
Our research will contribute to initiatives by our partner, the BFI, to encourage women's film production and contextualize their current plans to distribute work by early women documentarists.
Our outputs will take two principal forms: firstly, an experimental documentary biopic about Craigie, 'Making the Grade', and secondly a book. The film will investigate how to create a similar approach to Craigie's own hybrid mix of documentary and drama such as through a first-person narration by 'Craigie' herself reflecting on her past, from the moment of her final film, 'Two Hours from London', (1994). We will examine how her history might be represented in ways which reveal her multiple and complex identities as not only film-maker but as suffrage historian, journalist, feminist and devoted wife of 'Labour's Old Romantic'.
We aim to provide creative insights into the biopic, advancing work in the genre by eschewing conventional to-camera interviews and instead using a dramatized narration which reflects on the contingency of the film's archival sources and uses Craigie's own words, films and photographs to explore her life history. Our proposed book aims to discover why Craigie's career as a film maker effectively stalled through the 1950s although she moved into screenwriting and remained active as a journalist. It will examine the social and political forces which account for this gap in her film production; a gap which is crucial to understanding not only Craigie, but the many women since who have struggled to maintain a career in the film industry. We will chart how, although her production activity ceased for 40 years, her commitment to her political ideals did not and was pursued in her lifelong interest in the women's suffrage movement. We will examine how Craigie mediated the 'first wave' of feminism to understand the politics of her own time just as we envisage this project informing a revision of documentary film histories to encompass women's contribution.
Our research will contribute to initiatives by our partner, the BFI, to encourage women's film production and contextualize their current plans to distribute work by early women documentarists.
Our outputs will take two principal forms: firstly, an experimental documentary biopic about Craigie, 'Making the Grade', and secondly a book. The film will investigate how to create a similar approach to Craigie's own hybrid mix of documentary and drama such as through a first-person narration by 'Craigie' herself reflecting on her past, from the moment of her final film, 'Two Hours from London', (1994). We will examine how her history might be represented in ways which reveal her multiple and complex identities as not only film-maker but as suffrage historian, journalist, feminist and devoted wife of 'Labour's Old Romantic'.
We aim to provide creative insights into the biopic, advancing work in the genre by eschewing conventional to-camera interviews and instead using a dramatized narration which reflects on the contingency of the film's archival sources and uses Craigie's own words, films and photographs to explore her life history. Our proposed book aims to discover why Craigie's career as a film maker effectively stalled through the 1950s although she moved into screenwriting and remained active as a journalist. It will examine the social and political forces which account for this gap in her film production; a gap which is crucial to understanding not only Craigie, but the many women since who have struggled to maintain a career in the film industry. We will chart how, although her production activity ceased for 40 years, her commitment to her political ideals did not and was pursued in her lifelong interest in the women's suffrage movement. We will examine how Craigie mediated the 'first wave' of feminism to understand the politics of her own time just as we envisage this project informing a revision of documentary film histories to encompass women's contribution.
Planned Impact
Jill Craigie: Film Pioneer will make an important contribution to public understanding of women's role in British cinema. Our project provides a creative intervention in moves by other organizations to boost equality in current film production. Impact will be achieved through the following:
1. Enhancing public awareness of women's film history:
The presentation of our work about Craigie including at our partner, the BFI's, planned season and tour and dvd on Early Women Film-Makers will enable wide access to our research for public and professional audiences. Live screenings at Southbank and at the BFI's regional partners, including Tyneside Cinema, where Thynne was formerly Education Officer, Cardiff and Glasgow will stimulate engagement and interest in the project and provide valuable feedback on further dissemination. We will also work with Our Screen prior to the dvd release to promote the film to audiences in communities across Britain through live screenings in areas which do not have extensive cinema provision. Our partner, The Stanley Spencer Gallery will host an event in their community at Cookham (Berks.) to share our research on Craigie's remarkable arts documentary, 'Out of Chaos', which features the painter Spencer as a key subject.
2. Contributing to current equality and diversity initiatives in the film sector:
The BFI are supporting the project because of their commitment to improving equality in the contemporary film industry and in foregrounding the achievements of, and obstacles faced by, women historically in national film culture. Our project will enhance their current work on women in film history, spearheaded by curator Ros Cranston, particularly by revealing the industrial and social conditions which framed and limited their contribution. The proposed inclusion of our film on the Early Women Film-Makers dvd will provide an invaluable historical perspective for current strategies and campaigns to improve equal opportunities in the sector.
3. Inspiring women film professionals in pursuing their careers:
By exploring the work and life of a neglected woman director, we will enable women working in the film business today to learn from the lessons of the past and understand the approaches taken by their female forebears in pursuing their projects. We will enter the film into the BFI London Film Festival as well as other film festivals worldwide which will raise the reach and profile of the film for an international audience, including of other women film-makers. Acceptance at the LFF will attract invitations to other festivals, nationally and internationally. In addition, we will target major documentary festivals (including Hot Docs, Sheffield, Copenhagen, Yamagata) and the key women's film festival (Films de Femmes, Creteil which has selected many of Thynne's previous films). Our partner, Peninsula Arts, will host a film preview and dedicated event around this topic aimed at women in the sector in the South West region, to which we will invite speakers from BECTU, Directors UK and Women in Film and Television.
4. Developing knowledge of gender issues in film practices in the education sector:
In the first instance, we will work with our partner, The Forum, Norwich to engage their extensive education networks in a day school on Craigie. From this and through a teachers' conference at Sussex we will develop materials with teachers for use in the secondary curriculum around early women film-makers. Sussex has successfully run such events before, drawing on classroom expertise to embody staff research in teaching resources which can be shared within the region and nationally e.g. through the BFI funded programme, 'Into Film' which supports teachers in the use of film in the curriculum and beyond.
1. Enhancing public awareness of women's film history:
The presentation of our work about Craigie including at our partner, the BFI's, planned season and tour and dvd on Early Women Film-Makers will enable wide access to our research for public and professional audiences. Live screenings at Southbank and at the BFI's regional partners, including Tyneside Cinema, where Thynne was formerly Education Officer, Cardiff and Glasgow will stimulate engagement and interest in the project and provide valuable feedback on further dissemination. We will also work with Our Screen prior to the dvd release to promote the film to audiences in communities across Britain through live screenings in areas which do not have extensive cinema provision. Our partner, The Stanley Spencer Gallery will host an event in their community at Cookham (Berks.) to share our research on Craigie's remarkable arts documentary, 'Out of Chaos', which features the painter Spencer as a key subject.
2. Contributing to current equality and diversity initiatives in the film sector:
The BFI are supporting the project because of their commitment to improving equality in the contemporary film industry and in foregrounding the achievements of, and obstacles faced by, women historically in national film culture. Our project will enhance their current work on women in film history, spearheaded by curator Ros Cranston, particularly by revealing the industrial and social conditions which framed and limited their contribution. The proposed inclusion of our film on the Early Women Film-Makers dvd will provide an invaluable historical perspective for current strategies and campaigns to improve equal opportunities in the sector.
3. Inspiring women film professionals in pursuing their careers:
By exploring the work and life of a neglected woman director, we will enable women working in the film business today to learn from the lessons of the past and understand the approaches taken by their female forebears in pursuing their projects. We will enter the film into the BFI London Film Festival as well as other film festivals worldwide which will raise the reach and profile of the film for an international audience, including of other women film-makers. Acceptance at the LFF will attract invitations to other festivals, nationally and internationally. In addition, we will target major documentary festivals (including Hot Docs, Sheffield, Copenhagen, Yamagata) and the key women's film festival (Films de Femmes, Creteil which has selected many of Thynne's previous films). Our partner, Peninsula Arts, will host a film preview and dedicated event around this topic aimed at women in the sector in the South West region, to which we will invite speakers from BECTU, Directors UK and Women in Film and Television.
4. Developing knowledge of gender issues in film practices in the education sector:
In the first instance, we will work with our partner, The Forum, Norwich to engage their extensive education networks in a day school on Craigie. From this and through a teachers' conference at Sussex we will develop materials with teachers for use in the secondary curriculum around early women film-makers. Sussex has successfully run such events before, drawing on classroom expertise to embody staff research in teaching resources which can be shared within the region and nationally e.g. through the BFI funded programme, 'Into Film' which supports teachers in the use of film in the curriculum and beyond.
Organisations
- University of Sussex (Lead Research Organisation)
- British Film Institute (BFI) (Collaboration)
- Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) (Collaboration)
- University of Plymouth (Collaboration)
- Stanley Spencer Gallery (Collaboration)
- British Film Institute (Project Partner)
- British Entertainment History Project (Project Partner)
- The Stanley Spencer Gallery (Project Partner)
- The Forum Trust (Project Partner)
- Plymouth University (Project Partner)
Publications
Price H
(2022)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Price H
(2022)
Jill Craigie and the BBC: Postwar television, feminist histories and modern femininities
in Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies
Price H
(2022)
Post-war girlhoods: Jill Craigie, British social realism and local stardom
in Screen
Tasker Y
(2021)
Introduction
in Journal of British Cinema and Television
Tasker Y
(2021)
Jill Craigie, Post-war British Film Culture and the British Film Academy
in Journal of British Cinema and Television
Tasker, Yvonne
(2021)
Jill Craigie and Women in British Film and Documentary Cultures 1930-55 (Journal Issue)
Thynne L
(2021)
Independent Miss Craigie : Narration and the Archive in a Documentary Biopic
in Journal of British Cinema and Television
Wearing S
(2021)
'I am not particularly despondent yet': The Political Tone of Jill Craigie's Equal Pay Film To Be a Woman
in Journal of British Cinema and Television
| Title | Independent Miss Craigie |
| Description | An experimental biographical film exploring the career and life of Jill Craigie, one of the first women to direct documetaries in the UK, 93 minutes. 'Independent Miss Craigie' uses its subject's own films extensively as well as other fiction and propaganda of the 1940s to reflect on, and contextualize, her life and career. It draws on the director's unseen papers, along with her films, letters, photographs and interviews to reveal her energetic struggles to get her radical films made and distributed. Dual narrative voices - from actual interviews and from a script performed by Hayley Atwell - evoke the split between Craigie's persona as a young, apparently confident film-maker and her later dismissal of her work. The film echoes Craigie's hybrid mix of drama and documentary and use of the first person to represent women's experiences and subjectivities, previously marginalized within the British Documentary Movement. Released on the dvd collecton, The Camera is Ours: Britain's Women Documentary Makers, London: BFI, 2022 First public screening: March 2021 and BFI player, 6 March 2023. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | To date the film has been screened to live and online public audiences of approximately 700 people in cinemas and community venues. Audiences reported a significant increase in their awareness of Craigie's contribution to documentary history. It has furthered understanding of the gender inequalities in the film industry through its depiction of the career of Jill Craigie and understanding of the contribution made by Craigie and other women to the development of documentary film, which has often been seen as the province of men. It has provoked discussion of: the relationship of public and private in individual women's careers and how they are represented in life histories; and of the uses of different forms of archive in presenting those histories; of how women's creative output gets marginalized and recovered; of how film histories are constructed and revised; of how film form is developed through practice-led research. Audience surveys have been conducted at several of the screenings listed to date and comments include: 'the film increased my awareness of Craigie's work in too many ways to list'; 'Very evocative and pertinent' to mirror her own approach of reconstruction'' 'Important to show how the most apparently confident women can still be belittled in private'. In addition to the public screenings it has been presented at several academic conferences there, with appromixately 400 viewers. A It has been included as a special feature on the BFI dvd, 'The Camera is Ours', where it contextualizes this two-disc collection of recently restored non fiction shorts by women from the BFI national archive. To date 500 copies have been sold. Reviews of the dvd appeared in 2022 in 'The Guardian'' 'The Times', 'The Financial Times', 'CineOutsider' and 'London Grip'. Thynne's film was acclaimed for highlighting challenges for women in the film industry and thus appreciating their achievements, especially in the sectors they did manage to access - 'once you learn about the obstacles put in the way of talented directors like [Craigie], it makes you want to pay homage to the others - even if it means watching public information films (Sarah Kent, Arts Desk). The film was also included as part of a study day run by the BFI at Southbank around this collection (March 2022). On 6 March 2023, ;Independent Miss Craigie; was released on the prestigious and highly selective BFI player where it is accessible to over 200,000 teaching staff and students as well as a wide public audience on this premiere UK streaming service. Clips from the film have also been made available for use in A Level Film Studies courses via a teaching resource pack on women documentary makers by Research Fellow Hollie Price which has been requested by 40 schools. Feedback suggests the resource provides a wider understanding of the industrial context for teachers. Sessions for teachers and school students on project findings have been offered by the team online and in person. Students comments on include; ' as a person wanting to become a female film creator this was very empowering' ' I realized how few female directors I know' 'it was shown women's impact into documentary films' they reported learning about 'how differently women filmmakers were see compared to men' 'a better understanding of women directing as it's not always talked about' 'appreciation of how much harder women had to work to have a chance' (Worthing College, 21/1/23) |
| URL | https://player.bfi.org.uk/rentals/film/watch-independent-miss-craigie-2020-online |
| Title | Jill Craigie: Film Pioneer |
| Description | An exhibition at the Mezzanine Gallery, BFI Southbank focussing on Craigie's working methods with non-professionals and communities in her films as well as her own representation as a film director, drawing on items from the BFI National Archives, The LSE Women's Library and unseen documents donated to the project by Craigie's family. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | The exhibition, started 28 February 2022, contributes to the BFI's initiative to raise the visibility and inclusion of women directors and contextualize their role in film history through a major restoration project, including of work by Jill Craigie, which this show is associated with. The shows enhances visitor engagement with the project, the seaons and the BFI national archives as well as with understanding of women's contribition to British cultural history. |
| URL | https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/britain-women-documentary-makers-camera-ours |
| Description | Jill Craigie: Film Pioneer has utilized extensive, original research of both audio-visual and written archives to explore its subject's distinctive feminist and egalitarian contribution to social realism and the significance of her life and career for understanding gender inequalities in the film and television industries. Our practice-led research, a full-length biopic, 'Independent Miss Craigie' (Thynne, 93 minutes 2020, available on BFI player) uses a mix of drama and documentary methods to mimic Craigie's own hybrid approach to making films that sought to embody the perspectives of the communities and groups she worked with, particularly of women. Our biopic innovates in auto/biographical form by orchestrating two different voices to represent its subject and reflect on her diverse identities as they emerged from our sources: Craigie's actual voice from interviews recorded in later life, especially those held by BEHP, and a scripted first-person narration in the voice of the young director performed by Hayley Atwell. This narration is based on Craigie's own words, including from the film-maker's own papers from the LSE Women's Library, and from a rich, hitherto unseen production folder for her first film 'Out of Chaos', 1944 containing correspondence about their methods with war artists such as Piper, Nash and Dunbar, found in a private collection. Craigie's split identity, as an older woman who tended to dismiss her films, and a younger one who energetically pursued her projects, suggests the impact on her of the gendered hierarchies of the film industry (Thynne, 2021). We perceived key tensions between the relative neglect of Craigie's work to date in film history, her struggle to continue directing and her high visibility in the media circles in the 1940s and 1950s. Our research challenges our initial assumption that Craigie largely disappeared from developing documentary work after 1951, underlining the importance of looking beyond the Documentary Movement, to understand both the extent of women's contribution to the form and how their skills were often not given a chance to fully develop. For instance, unconsidered files in BBC Written Archives revealed Craigie's attempted transition into television writing and directing via an unproduced script, 'Votes for Women' which used the liveness and immediacy of the emerging medium to evoke the fight for suffrage (Price, 2022). Other collections produced original material for analysis in our publications and our exhibition at BFI Southbank (2022): from the British Newspaper Archive and Plymouth Central Library, evidence of Craigie's 'experimental combination of social investigation with popular modes of feminine 'self-fashioning' in the 1940s' (Price, 2022); from BAFTA's collection, Craigie's contributions to the development of film culture as the first women to be elected to their board (Tasker, 2021); from the NUWT collection (Institute of Education), records of the affective labour that enabled Craigie's ardent campaign film for equal pay, To Be a Woman (1951) to be made with women teachers' support, and highlighted gender equality discourses in the film industry and in the wider public realm at the time (Wearing, 2021). |
| Exploitation Route | Our project suggests life history approaches are fruitful in appreciating early women's work in documentary across media and beyond the better-known contexts of the genre's post-war production. Practice-led researchers, film-makers and oral historians could take forward our experiments in creatively combining verbal with audio-visual archive in the medium of film. Our case study of Craigie's life and career suggests further attention by film scholars should be given to how women's traditional roles as homemakers and care-givers have interrupted their professional lives, and how gendered forms of structural inequality and violence impact on what they are able to achieve in the creative industries. Our discovery of Craigie's many unfinished projects points to also to the importance for film historians to study archival evidence of a director's output beyond what they were able to realize on the screen. Our outcomes could be taken forward in the curricula of secondary and higher education to further young people's understanding of how the historic marginalization of women and other minoritized groups in the creative industries remains relevant today. Our multipe presentations and workshops in the HE sector, particularly our own symposium, British Women Documentary Makers 1930-55 at the LSE (2019) have fostered scholarly networks on this topic and the biannual international conference of the Women's Film and Television History network (2023) is being organized by a team of film academics at Sussex, led by PI Thynne. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://www.jillcraigiefilmpioneer.org/research-news |
| Description | Our research has enhanced awareness of women's contribution to cultural production, equality issues in film and television and understanding of documentary forms and heritage. Our engagement with non-academic audiences began during our primary research period in 2019 - 2020 when we followed the trajectory of Craigie's own films by filming in places where she shot her films, in particular South Wales, the location for 'Blue Scar' (1949) (on the nationalization of the mines) and Plymouth for 'The Way We Live' (1947) (on the plan to rebuild the blitzed city). We screened our project film, 'Independent Miss Craigie' (2020), in these locations with the support of Gywnfi Heritage and The Arts Cinema Plymouth respectively as a work in progress and as a finished film. These events prompted further interest from our collaborators there in using our research. Audiences valued the insights our film provided into the histories and audio-visual heritage of their home towns. In 2020 - 2021, other specific public screenings and presentations for diverse public and women's groups were Hypatia Trust, Cornwall, Family Ties Network (an artists' group), and Four Corners, London and the Stanley Spencer gallery, Cookham. We reached further live public audiences through a collaboration with the Independent Cinema Office which led to a tour of selected regional cinemas in winter 2021-22 which reached an over 700 viewers. ICO introduced the PI to cinema programmers who took the film as it enhanced their offering of independent and feminist film to their audiences. Accompanying q and as by the PI sparked debate on women's roles in the film industry today, the representation of sexual violence and how the film's presentation of its subject through its first person narration and curation of multiple archival sources enriches documentary practice. Viewers reported increased awareness of Craigie as a significant figure in documentary history, her feminist perspective, and the importance of her life history in understanding how women's creativity is impacted by social expectations. Our research enhanced our partner, the BFI's, initiatives to foreground the work of early women documentarists and curate a programme and two-disc DVD selection of their work, 'The Camera is Ours; Britain's Women Documentary Makers' (2022). 'Independent Miss Craigie' provided understanding of the industrial and social context in which these directors worked in the 1940s and 50s through its inclusion as a significant bonus feature on the DVD (sales to date: 500, reviewed in The Guardian, The Times, The Financial Times, CineOutsider and London Grip) and our participation in screenings and a study day at BFI Southbank (March 2022). Thynne's film was acclaimed for highlighting challenges for women in the film industry. In December 2021, Thynne was invited by the BFI to curate an exhibition there ('Jill Craigie: Film Pioneer', February - September 2022, Mezzanine Gallery). This show contextualized the programme and increased audience engagement. It juxtaposed Craigie's star-like specularization in press and publicity in the 1940s with her own use of participants from provincial communities in her own films. The film's contribution to the creative quality of British film has now also been recognized through its acquisition by BFI player (from 6 March 2023) where it is accessible to a national public audience and will reach up to 200,000 teachers and students. To date the film has been shown to international audiences via curated screenings on the ICO platform, at selected film festivals and conferences, including the Female Eye Festival, Toronto where it won the Best Foreign Documentary award and fostered contact with Canadian distributors and producers. Wider festival acceptance proved difficult given the interruption to the circuit caused by Covid. We plan to pursue further international distribution opportunities in the coming year. Despite the challenges of interaction with the formal education sector during the pandemic, we produced a teaching resource pack on women documentary makers (Price, 2021) after a focus group with secondary film and media teachers organized with a Sussex PGCE tutor. The meeting raised awareness of Craigie's filmmaking career and her life/public image, and its relationship to teaching documentary in media and film studies in secondary schools. 37 teachers were sent the pack that is tailored to Eduqas A-Level Film Studies specifically and their feedback suggested it enhanced their teaching in the area as it made links between women documentary directors of different periods, the challenges they faced and placed texts in context. In Autumn 2022, the pack and masterclasses were offered to further 20 teachers in the SE region. Students' comments on a masterclass at a local school include: 'as a person wanting to become a female film creator this was very empowering' and 'I realized how few female directors I know.' They reported learning 'how differently women filmmakers were seen compared to men'; 'a better understanding of women directing as it's not always talked about' and 'appreciation of how much harder women had to work to have a chance'. We are seeking further avenues to present this resource to users. We created opportunities for dialogue with contemporary women film-makers outside of London. The 'Making the Grade' weekender at the Arts Institute Plymouth - a series of three events over two days (November 2021) - used Craigie's filmmaking career as a springboard to explore the opportunities for women documentary filmmakers past and present. This brought together practice-led researchers with women working professionally raising the latter's awareness of research in film in a university context. The event led to further collaboration with the team by the programmer, the professional film-makers and others in the arts sector in the South West. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Title | The Jill Craigie Collection Guide |
| Description | The Jill Craigie Collection guide is a 112-page guide to the Jill Craigie papers deposited at The Women's Library, LSE. It was produced by Adele Tulli, the former research fellow on the project from a survey of the collection, which consists of 72 boxes of material. The LSE catalogue, which was completed in 2018, only contains basic descriptions of the contents at paper file level. The guide identifies the contents of each box, down to item level, in most cases. Our guide provides detailed description, context and explanation of the contents of the collection for other researchers in film, suffrage and women's history. Parts of the guide have been used to annotate the LSE catalogue of the Craigie collection. Part One provides a brief biography for Craigie, incorporating some of our current findings from research of her little known work at the BBC; and an overview of the collection organization and highlights: suffrage collection and correspondence; film career; politics and Involvement in Labour party and private life. Part Two describes the collection under the following headings, as per the table of contents: 7JCC Series 1: Research material of Jill Craigie 33 7JCC/1: BOX 1 - Research material on suffrage movement 7JCC/1: BOX 2 - Collected material on suffrage movement 7JCC/1: BOX 3 - Suffragettes' accounts and anti-suffragette papers 7JCC/1: BOX 4 - East London Federation of Suffragettes and Women's Freedom League 7JCC/1: BOX 5 - Collected material about suffrage and women's rights movements 7JCC/1: BOX 6 - Notebooks of Jill Craigie 7JCC/1: BOX 7 - Research material in Women Rights 7JCC/1: BOX 8 - National Council of Women of Great Britain and other women related campaigns 7JCC/1: BOX 9 - Civil war in the Balkans 7JCC/1: BOX 10 - Research material on suffrage movement 7JCC/1: BOX 11 - Papers of Elizabeth Robin (aka E.C. Raimond) and Jessie Kenney 7JCC/1: BOX 12 - Research material on Suffrage Movement - 7JCC Series 2: Correspondence of Jill Craigie 42 7JCC/2: BOX 1 - Correspondence of Jill Craigie 7JCC/2: BOX 2 - Correspondence of Jill Craigie 7JCC/2: BOX 3 - Correspondence of Jill Craigie - 7JCC Series 3: Authorial Papers by Jill Craigie 79 7JCC/3: BOX 1 - Drafts for 'Daughters of Dissent' 7JCC/3: BOX 2 - Drafts for 'Daughters of Dissent' 7JCC/3: BOX 3 - Drafts for 'Daughters of Dissent' 7JCC/3: BOX 4 - Drafts for 'Daughters of Dissent' 7JCC/3: BOX 5 - Scripts and diary entries 7JCC/3: BOX 6 - Articles by Jill Craigie 7JCC/3: BOX 7 - Papers on film making 7JCC/3: BOX 8 - Unidentified manuscript - 7JCC Series 4: Personal Papers and Photographs 93 7JCC/4: BOX 1 - Personal papers and photographs of Jill Craigie and Michael Foot 7JCC/4: BOX 2 - Personal papers and photographs of Jill Craigie and Michael Foot 7JCC/4: BOX 3 - Photographs of Jill Craigie and Michael Foot - 7JCC Series 5: Papers of suffragettes 99 7JCC/5: BOX 1 - Correspondence and papers of Grace Roe 7JCC/5: BOX 2 - Correspondence and papers of Grace Roe 7JCC/5: BOX 3 - Correspondence and papers of Grace Roe 7JCC/5: BOX 4 - Correspondence and papers of Christabel Pankhurst 7JCC/5: BOX 5 - Suffragette Fellowship and other correspondence 7JCC/5: BOX 6 - Papers and correspondence of Pankhursts and Grace Roe 7JCC/5: BOX 7 - Photographs collected by Grace Roe 7JCC/5: BOX 8 - Papers and photographs of Anna Munro and Charlotte Despard 7JCC/5: BOX 9 - Papers and photographs of Pankhursts, Alice Paul and Barbara Castle - 7JCC Series 6: News cuttings albums 107 7JCC/6: BOX 1 - News cuttings album on suffrage movement 7JCC/6: BOX 2 - News cuttings album on suffrage movement 7JCC/6: BOX 3 - News cuttings album on suffrage movement 7JCC/6: BOX 4 - News cuttings album on suffrage movement 7JCC/6: BOX 5 - News cuttings albums compiled by Jill Craigie, various themes 7JCC/6: BOX 6 - News cuttings albums - various themes - 7JCC Series O: The Jill Craigie Objects Collection 108 7JCC/O: BOX 1 - Women's Social & Political Union postcard album 7JCC/O: BOX 2 - Suffrage Photographs 7JCC/O: BOX 3 - Suffrage-related material 7JCC/O: BOX 4 - General political material 7JCC/O: BOX 5 - Will Dyson cartoons 7JCC/O: BOX 6 - Modern cartoons and material relating to Michael Foot 7JCC/O: BOX 7 - Family photographs 7JCC/O: BOX 8 - Miscellaneous visual material 7JCC/O: BOX 9 - Press cuttings 7JCC/O: BOX 10 - Mounted posters, photographs and press cuttings 7JCC/O: BOX 11 - Suffrage artefacts 7JCC Series P: The Jill Craigie Library 110 Currently in paper form at the Women's Library, the guide is due to be added to the LSE library catalogue shortly as an electronic resource. https://archives.lse.ac.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=7JCC%2f00 |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The guide is enhancing the use of the LSE Special Collections and is contributing to awareness of the Craigie collection and its importance as a research resource. |
| URL | https://archives.lse.ac.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=7JCC%2f00 |
| Description | Arts Institute Plymouth: Presentation and discussion of Craigie's work and its relevance to local history and culture |
| Organisation | British Film Institute (BFI) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Devising, planning and co-ordinating public engagement event at the Arts institute Plymouth (22- 23 November 2019) involving a screening and discussion of the project film rough cut (Making the Grade, working title, final title: independent Miss Craigie); workshop with contemporary women directors on their careers; screening and discussion of Craigie's film 'The Way We Live' at the Arts Cinema, Plymouth. Managing budget, selecting and inviting speakers. See Engagement activities for details |
| Collaborator Contribution | Supplying Front of house and technical staff, provision of two venues, staff time in liasing over event and its contents, publicity and out reach to local community and media, arranging catering and volunteer support. |
| Impact | See under engagement activities: 'Making the Grade: Women directing documentary past and present', Arts Institute, University of Plymouth - 22-23 November 2019 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Arts Institute Plymouth: Presentation and discussion of Craigie's work and its relevance to local history and culture |
| Organisation | University of Plymouth |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Devising, planning and co-ordinating public engagement event at the Arts institute Plymouth (22- 23 November 2019) involving a screening and discussion of the project film rough cut (Making the Grade, working title, final title: independent Miss Craigie); workshop with contemporary women directors on their careers; screening and discussion of Craigie's film 'The Way We Live' at the Arts Cinema, Plymouth. Managing budget, selecting and inviting speakers. See Engagement activities for details |
| Collaborator Contribution | Supplying Front of house and technical staff, provision of two venues, staff time in liasing over event and its contents, publicity and out reach to local community and media, arranging catering and volunteer support. |
| Impact | See under engagement activities: 'Making the Grade: Women directing documentary past and present', Arts Institute, University of Plymouth - 22-23 November 2019 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | British Entertainment History Project: Recording and interpreting British film history |
| Organisation | Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Multiple |
| PI Contribution | The partner is actually the British Entertainment History Project, originally a BECTU project, ( but I can't enter the right name on the system) We have highlighted their collection of oral history interviews with workers in film and television by using the key extant interviews with Craigie extensively in our film biography of her . |
| Collaborator Contribution | They have supplied the required interviews free of charge in broadcast format and provided access to interviews with other colleagues of Craigie's. |
| Impact | Biographical film 'Independent Miss Craigie' (2020), produced and directed by Lizzie Thynne currently in post-production. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | British Film Institute: Contextualzing national film heritage and women's contribution to it |
| Organisation | British Film Institute (BFI) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | As planned in our bid, we provided Intellectual and practical contributions to BFI special season, 'The Camera is Ours: Britain's Women Documentary Makers' from 4 March 2022 at BFI Southbank through: - speaking at a study day (5 March 2022) that provided an historical framework for the above season, along with colleagues from the BFI and IWM, through presentating, screening and discussing the film from our project, 'Independent Miss Craigie' and other speakers' contributions with a public audience; Other contributions include: - Researching and curating exhibition on Jill Craigie in the Mezzanine Gallery at BFI Southbank (from 28 February - June 2022); - providing the film for inclusion as a special feature on the dvd 'The Camera is Ours: Britain's Women Documentary Makers, (forhcoming, 28 March 2022) to contextualize the work of the early women film-makers featured on it, particularly Jill Craigie.. - Writing short contextual essays for the dvd booklet to enhance viewer understanding of the archival material on the dvd, films which 'are at the heart of the BFI's project to raise the visibility of the women who've been making documentaries for almost 100 years'. - Both our film and the essays contribute to the marketability, status and appeal of the dvd to the BFI's desired buyers and the film provides a very substantial bonus to purchasers as a contemporary film based on in-depth research of its subject to accompany the archival films on the discs. - Releasing the 'Independent Miss Craigie' via BFI player to reach a wide audience of BFI members and subscribers |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ros Cranston, non fiction curator at the BFI has supported the project by being a member of the advisory board, contributing her knowledge of the period of documentary film history that our project encompasses and invaulable professional links to other BFI departments which led to the invitation to curate a show about Jill Craigie at the Mezzanine Gallery, BFI Southbank in addition to the contribution by the team to the above season and dvd. BFI archive staff, Nigel Arthur and Frances Iddon and a freelance are handler, Ewa Reeves, hired by the BFI, then collaborated with PI Thynne to prepare and lay out the show at Southbank and covered the costs of mounting it which was not part of our budget. BFI dvd dept is organizing the production of the dvd and marketing, The Camera is Ours, featuring the film from our projecvt, 'Independent Miss Craigie', due for releease on 28 March 2022. Overall this collaboration has raised the public profile of our project through its association the BFI as a major cultural association, and helped attract industry interest in the production which should lead to further opportunities. BFI player have organized and presented the film on their platform. |
| Impact | To date: see above Public screening and discussion BFI Southbank, 5 March 2022 as part of the season, The Camera is Ours. The disciplines involved are practice-led research, film studies, film history and the professional disciplines of curating, exhibiting and programming. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Stanley Spencer Gallery: Enhancing the work of a regional gallery |
| Organisation | Stanley Spencer Gallery |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Lizzie Thynne established a partnership with the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham , Berks during the award application period from January 2017 . We agreed to share our research on Craigie with them since she worked with Stanley Spencer who lived in Cookham on her film Out of Chaos, (1944). This was the first film to show artists at work, focusing on selected war artists including Spencer, Graham Sutherland, Henry Moore, and Paul Nash. Thynne and Tasker liased with the gallery to present our research-in-progress at the gallery and this has taken the form, so far, of a public talk by Tasker at the gallery on 10 December 2019 ( see Engagement Activities), which was included as part of a public adult education course on British Artists of World War Two, run by gallery archivist, Ann Danks and attended by approximately 50 people. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Chrissie Rosenthal at the gallery liased with Thynne for some time while our bid was in preparation and arranged for a suitable occasion for us to engage with gallery visitors to present our research in discussion with archivist, Ann Danks. The gallery provided the venue, projection. publicity and volunteer time to organize and run our talk and promote it to visitors and students on the War Artists course. |
| Impact | See above |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | The Arts Instiute Plymouth: Contributing to diverse regional film heritage and exhibition |
| Organisation | University of Plymouth |
| Department | School of Art, Design and Architecture |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Pi Thynne and RF Price presented the project film 'Independent Miss Craigie' to a public audience at the Arts Cinema. Plymouth, plus discussion |
| Collaborator Contribution | In continuance of our partnership with the Arts Institute Plymouth/the Arts Cinema, Plymouth, they publicized and hosted this very well attended first live screening of the film and discussion of our key research output, the film 'Independent Miss Craigie'. Contribution in-kind - staff time by programmer and host, Anna Navas, marketing and front of house teams, projectionist |
| Impact | Live screening and discussion at Arts Cinema, Plymouth of 'Independent Miss Craigie' by Thynne (PI), and Price (RF) hosted by Anna Navas, programmer, 19 November 2021. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | 'British women documentary filmmakers 1930-1955' symposium, London School of Economics - 5 April 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Organised by project members Sadie Wearing at LSE and Lizzie Thynne at Sussex, this one-day symposium aimed to deepen understanding of women's creative presence in British documentary film-making. The papers presented explored individual films and filmmakers, as well as the industrial, social and historical contexts in which they worked. The presentations and responses from the audience highlighted key issues pertaining to women's contributions to documentary filmmaking, raising important questions of authorship and agency, film exhibition and distribution practices, and the significance of kinship and informal support networks. Speakers and contributors included a mixture of postgraduate students, academic staff, filmmakers and museum and archive professionals (including from the BFI and the Imperial War Museum), and the symposium offered a range of perspectives and archival research contributing to a lively discussion - and critical re-evaluation - of the variety of women's roles in non-fiction filmmaking in mid-twentieth century Britain. There were 168 people registered for the event on Eventbrite, we estimate that 100 people attended for at least part of the day. Selected comments from feedback: Exciting, invigorating affirming and defining the complexity of elements in my journey as a film maker and woman (occupation: Semi-retired independent film maker) All the papers and discussions were fascinating (Occupation: Lecturer) The richness and variation [of the event] was outstanding (Occupation: Librarian/researcher) Reviews of the day have since been published online on the IamHist blog, the Illuminations media blog and for the Journal of Media Practice and Education (Aug 2019). Llewella Chapman's review for IamHist praised the selection of papers and 'the range of methodological approaches they offered toward the researching of women documentary filmmakers during this period' from both scholars and archivists. She particularly highlights that 'the symposium provided a very supportive environment in which to provide further platforms for future collaboration and research'. The symposium has indeed led to further collaborative projects, including the formation of a panel on 'Letters, lives and archives: an epistolary approach to women's film history.' at BAFTSS, St Andrews in April 2020. The key outcome from the symposium will be a special issue of the Journal of British Cinema and Television focusing on 'Feminism, documentary and British film histories 1930-55' (accepted and scheduled for publication in 2021). Foregrounding the place of feminism and the contribution of women in non-fiction arenas of filmmaking in the mid-twentieth century, the special issue will feature research presented at the symposium and will be co-edited by team members Yvonne Tasker, Sadie Wearing and Hollie Price. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25741136.2019.1647698 |
| Description | 'Jill Craigie, Interwar Girlhood and Bank Holiday (1938)' - blog post for Doing Women's Film and Television History Network |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Blog post aimed at researchers in the field and general public to raise awareness of the relationship of Craigie's films to interwar discourses on girlhood and her own early work on a women's magazine. Shared on social media. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com/2020/09/15/jill-craigie-interwar-girlhood-and-b... |
| Description | 'Jill Craigie: reel life drama' online feature by Thynne, Camden New Journal, 3 February 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Solicited press article by Thynne about the film 'Independent Miss Craigie', in advance of screening at Everyman, Hampstead, 7 Feb 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/reel-life-drama |
| Description | 100 Years of Women at the BBC, invited public workshop [online], 7 May 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on Craigie's work at the BBC, as part of workshop exploring women's contribution to the corporation and historic and present day obstacles to equality. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com/2021/04/23/100-years-of-women-at-the-bbc/ |
| Description | Blog post |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Enhance public awareness of women's contribution to and involvement in the history of the BBC |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbchistoryresearch/entries/8cfcb585-53c2-4702-aff4-0aeefe7603e9 |
| Description | Community screening, Gwynfi Miners Hall, Gwynfi, S. Wales |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 60 members of the community attended a screening and discussion of the project film in a local club, organized with the co-ordinator of the Miners Hall. Audience discussion and questions followed which increased awareness of Jill Craigie's film 'Blue Scar, show with the local community in 1947-8, as a key part of local film heritage and her wider film career. Discussions continue with the co-ordinator about follow-on activities in this remote and impoverished area of South Wales. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/100657502009465/posts/217060840369130/?d=n |
| Description | Conference presentation: Doing Women's Film And Television History, Maynooth, July 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | - Roundtable and audience discussion of Independent Miss Craigie with Melanie Bell (Leeds), Karen Pearlman (Macquarie) Selina Robertson (Club des Femmes and Independent Cinema Office, UK) and director Lizzie Thynne (Sussex) Chair: Sadie Wearing (LSE) - The many lives of 'Jill Craigie': socialist, feminist, film-maker, writer and 'media personality' - panel presention by Price, Wearing and Thynne Through the roundtable PI Thynne connected with Selina Roberston of the Independent Cinema Office who then worked with her on a selected cinema release and streaming window for 'Independent Miss Craigie' on the ICO platform. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/?s=Thynne |
| Description | Festival screening, Female Eye Festival Toronto |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 25 people attended a screening and q and a on Independenent Miss Cragie at the Female Eye Film Festival at the TIFF cinema in Toronto. Audience awareness of Brittish film and Craigie's contribution was enhanced. The film won Best Foriegn Documentary and its profile therefore enhanced for potential distribution in Canada. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.thefemaleeyefilmfestival.com/brunch-award-ceremony |
| Description | Festival screening, Female Eye Festival Toronto |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 30 people attended a screeing of the project film 'Independent Miss Craigie' and enagaged in discussion with the director. The film was awarded "Best Foreign Documentary' by the festival judges. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.thefemaleeyefilmfestival.com/brunch-award-ceremony |
| Description | Film screening and Discussion (Four Corners Film and Photography Workshop, London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk, Four Corners film screening [online], 24 March 2021 - Out of Archives series of public talks, introductory talk by PI and RF's work on Independent Miss Craigie which aimed to discuss the use of archives in the film production. Sparked interest in the topic and in the career of Jill Craigie. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://vimeo.com/534858527 |
| Description | Film tour, winter 2021- 22: Multiple public cinema screenings with director q and as |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Pi Thynne with RF Price (in some cases) presented the film to public cinema audiences as part of the programmes at these independent cinemas: Plymouth Arts Cinema; Phoenix Exeter; Rio Dalston;The Depot, Dalston; The Everyman, Hampstead; Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle; BFI Southbank. There were q and as after each hosted by programmers or academic colleguges and audiences reported increased awareness of the challneges facing women film-makers and increased interest in Jill Craigie, her work and the art of the biopic. The project team have actively engaged with social media users to spread awareness of the film screenings. For examples tweets from our account in in the period August 2021 - February 2022 gained 151,463 impressions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://www.jillcraigiefilmpioneer.org/independent-miss-craigie-winter-tour-begins-with-live-cinema-... |
| Description | Inaugural public lecture, Yvonne Tasker - 'Invisible women? Analysing gender and media', Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, University of Leeds - 16 October 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In this public inaugural lecture, Yvonne Tasker explored the meaning of gendered bodies in media cultures. She looked at the career of socialist filmmaker Jill Craigie to show how radical women have long been involved in the British film and television industries, arguing that gender is a vital frame for media history and analysis. Approximately 200 people - staff, students and members of the public - attended the lecture. Discussion focused on the need to raise the profile of Craigie and of women filmmakers more generally. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.jillcraigiefilmpioneer.org/yvonne-tasker-inaugural-lecture-invisible-women-analysing-gen... |
| Description | Invited Talk by Lizzie Thynne: 'Representing the Life of Jill Craigie', Hypatia Trust, Cornwall |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 37 people attended an online workshop on feminist film with a presentation on Craigie by Lizzie Thynne on 22nd July 2020 organized by the Hypatia Trust. This was part of a series of three entitled 'Feminist Flix: Women Make Movies'. Hypatia Trust, Penzance is an educational charity which support and promote women's achievements through research and documentation, exhibition, publication and by providing training and educational activities. The workshop sparked discussion and questions about the relationship of feminism and film today and the barriers to gender equality, past and present, in the film business . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://hypatia-trust.org.uk/events/feminist-flix-women-make-movies |
| Description | Invited talk by Hollie Price for Secondary Film and Media teachers (meeting organised by Dr Keith Perera, lead tutor PGCE Media and English) and follow up activity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 12 secondary school teachers of Media and FIlm attended a meeting where Hollie Price discussed possibilities for developing teaching resources for A-level Film Studies drawing on the project's research. The meeting raised awareness of Craigie's filmmaking career and her life/public image, and its relationship to teaching documentary in media and film studies in secondary schools. Teachers provided written feedback on the potential inclusion of teaching resources related to Craigie's career on the Eduqas A-Level Film and Media specifications - particularly in relation to current teaching on women documentary filmmakers. 37 teachers in the SE region were then sent the resource developed by Hollie Price and asked to feedback on its content and usefulness to their teaching. Feedback suggested it enhanced their teaching in the area as it made links between women documentary directors of different periods and the challenges they faced because of the sexism of the media industries, placed texts in context and was a 'fabulous resource'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Jill Craigie: Documentary, Realism and Histories of British Cinema; Invited Seminar by Yvonne Tasker at University of Southampton, 3 Nov 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Focusing on Craigie's work in documentary and realist modes of filmmaking during the 1940s, Yvonne Tasker situated 'Blue Scar' (1949) in relation to Craigie's feminist/socialist politics. In particular, the online talk explored some of the ways in which Craigie's public persona was constructed during this period. It reflected on the ways in which Craigie might more effectively be included within accounts of British cinema history. It was attended by 62 faculty and postgraduate students. Attendees discussed the relationship of Blue Scar to mining communities and the gender politics of the film and reported raised awareness of issues for their research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.southampton.ac.uk/film/news/seminars/2020/11/03-professor-yvonne-tasker.page |
| Description | Making the Grade: Women directing documentary past and present, Arts Institute, University of Plymouth - 22-23 November 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The 'Making the Grade' weekender - a series of three events over two days - aimed to use Jill Craigie's filmmaking career as a springboard to explore the opportunities for women documentary filmmakers past and present. Held in Plymouth, where Craigie made her second documentary on town planning - The Way We Live (1946), the events were co-organised with the Arts Institute at the University of Plymouth and the Plymouth Arts Cinema, with the aim of reaching the general public, film practitioners and students at the university and based in the region. The first event was a public screening of the first draft of the project documentary about Craigie's life and career, followed by responses from the audience and a panel with Lizzie Thynne and two of the women filmmakers Rebecca Brand and Ruth Grimberg we'd invited. Local historian Chris Robinson wrote a feature about the screening in the Plymouth Herald, and it was attended by people with interests in local history and women's filmmaking, and who had varying degrees of knowledge about Craigie and her husband Michael Foot. In the feedback, one comment was: 'you have inspired me to read more about Jill Craigie!'. Another audience member wrote that they especially liked the 'opportunity to see "draft" film screening' and respond to it, and that they were 'fascinated by the sacrifices and compromises that Craigie made as a consequence of the norms of her generation and marriage'. Chaired by Lizzie Thynne, the second event was a workshop with women documentary filmmakers - Barbara Santi, Rebecca Brand, and Ruth Grimberg - who discussed issues such as finding funding, developing their ideas and modes of distribution - offering a range of different experiences of the industry to the students and general public in the audience. This workshop provided an opportunity for networking between professional and academic practitioners Thynne has been invited as external examiner for Barbara Santi's PhD and Rebecca Brand has expressed an interest in a practice-led PhD. The third event was a fully booked screening of Jill Craigie's 1946 film The Way We Live in the Plymouth Arts Centre cinema - with talks from Stephen Essex, a lecturer in Geography at the University of Plymouth, on the 1943 Plan for Plymouth and project research fellow Hollie Price on the making of the film. After the screening, audience members were very keen to talk about their memories or second-hand stories about the film being made, first seeing it and its significance to contemporary Plymouth. The key outcome from this series of events was that audience members reported that they learnt something new about Jill Craigie's career, or in the case of the filmmakers workshop - learnt about the problems and issues faced by women documentary filmmakers working today. We plan to continue our collaboration with the Arts Institute with further events, including a screening of the final version of the project documentary. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.jillcraigiefilmpioneer.org/making-the-grade/ |
| Description | Online Talk by Lizzie Thynne; The Personal is still Political' workshop as part of two public workshops on Political Geographies of the Archive, 17 Setp 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Online Talk by Lizzie Thynne; The Personal is still Political' workshop as part of two public workshops on Political Geographies of the Archive, 17 Sept 2020. Organized by the Family Ties Network, a group of artists and academics working on this theme. Audience reported increased interest in the use of family archives in creative work and provoked debate across different media. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://familytiesnetwork.wordpress.com/events/ |
| Description | PhD training event, 23 October 2020: Invited presentations by Price and Thynne |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 60 postgraduate students attended the University of London Screen Studies Group's Annual Postgraduate Training Event:Screen Studies Research in a Pandemic to which our project team members, Hollie Price and Lizzie Thynne were invited to present on the process of developing the project and the film; Hollie Price will discussed her approach to her archival research for the project and the role of post-doctoral research fellow. This sparked questions about creative methods and the audience reported increased knowledge of Jill Craigie and issues of representation. The recorded talk has since been uploaded to Vimeo [https://vimeo.com/474169812] and shared on the Screen Studies Group's social media channels. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.chase.ac.uk/events-1/2020/10/23/screen-studies-research-in-a-pandemic-day-2-h4m8b-4pk2y |
| Description | Public lecture, Sadie Wearing on 'To Be a Woman', London School of Economics - 24 September 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | LSE Public Lecture - 'I am not particularly despondent yet': the affective life of a feminist film in post war Britain' Based on research on the production and distribution history of the film held in the UK National Union of Women Teachers archive, the lecture offered a reading of Jill Craigie's 1949 film 'To Be a Woman', drawing out both some of the tensions of this context and the articulation of the imagined future of gender equality at this time. In considering the production and distribution context of the film the lecture offered an account of the affective dynamics or (after Williams) the 'structure of feminist feeling' within which the film was produced and disseminated. The lecture was hosted by the department of gender studies at LSE and was attended by students and academics and also members of the public. The visibility of Jill Craigie's work as a politically motivated film-maker and significant contributor to documentary history was revealed to the audience; responses suggested a new awareness of this role. Attendees also commented that they had learnt for the first time of the discourses around equal pay with which Craigie was engaged in the 1950s |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://www.lse.ac.uk/gender/events/2019-20/'I-am-not-particularly-despondent-yet'-the-affective-life... |
| Description | Public symposium via University of Cork |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Women's Auto/Biographical Cinema Symposium 27/26 November 2021; the event sparked conversation about the form of biography and its realtion to gender in different international contexts |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.ucc.ie/en/fmt/film/symposium/event2/ |
| Description | Public talk - Yvonne Tasker, 'War Artists on Film in Out of Chaos', Stanley Spencer gallery Cookham - 10 December 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Yvonne Tasker's public talk was held at the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham as part of a course on war artists. The talk was well attended and feedback sheets for the event indicated that members of the audience felt that they had learnt about Craigie's career, a number of whom wrote that they had not heard of her or only as Foot's wife - so commented on their new understanding of Craigie's contribution to documentary filmmaking, and specifically to educational arts documentaries. One audience member wrote that they were fascinated by Out of Chaos and found the '"behind the scenes letters, conversations' and 'plans and details of distribution' (from archival evidence in Yvonne's talk) most interesting. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.jillcraigiefilmpioneer.org/public-talk-war-artists-on-film-out-of-chaos/ |
| Description | Queen's University Belfast PhD/PGR initiative |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 30 postgrads attended a presentation on Independemt Miss Craigie by PI Thynne which sparked discussion about practice-led research and the representation of women's film history. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/ael/events/EventsArchive/2021Events/PremierscreeningpresentationandQAf... |
| Description | School visit (Worthing) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | PI gave a presentation on women documentary film makers to A Level Film Studies students which increased awareness of the contribution of women film-makers and the challenges they have faced. Students comments on include; ' as a person wanting to become a female film creator this was very empowering' ' I realized how few female directors I know' 'it was shown women's impact into documentary films' they reported learning about 'how differently women filmmakers were see compared to men' 'a better understanding of women directing as it's not always talked about' 'appreciation of how much harder women had to work to have a chance' (Worthing College, 21/1/23) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Screening and interview Watershed, Bristol 22/3/22 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation and sicussion of project film Independent Miss Craigie. 80 people attended including public and staff and students from the Universities of Bristol and UWE. Audience feedback suggested the film encourages women to take up directing; its importance in signalling the hidden history of women film-makers and the complexity of Craigie's story; the relationship of personal and public lives; the significant contributions of women to British film-making. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Social media posts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | PI Thynne and RF Price have posted regularly about the project research on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram to extend the research of the project and have garnered wide response and interest in Craigie's work and career and connections to related projects and activities through these channels especially in the project film Independent Miss Craigie which has its own twitter, FB and Instagram account. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/craigieproject |
| Description | Streaming discussion of Independent Miss Craigie, on Independent Cinema Office platform as part of the series 'Cinema of Ideas',7 December 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 41 people to date either attended the live online discussion and screening of our film 'Independent Miss Craigie' Another 36 have to date (15 March 22) since viewed the recording of the discussion online on YouTube since it was uploaded on 28 Feb 2022. Viewers reported incrased interest in Craigie and women's film history and the event sparked disussion of film form and biographical methods. The Independent Cinema Office has supported the film through screening, discussion and promotion to cinem |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_6R2DBNMsQ&list=PL6OUltZxTFtE6n1IkNxKtxxAcqQ5nRD4G |