Inspirational Women
We have put together a list of inspirational films by and about women that you can book to see at your local Picturehouse cinemas.
Featuring strong female leads and tackling a range of struggles and challenges that have women have - and continue to - face, these films are an ideal way engage your students in discussions around some of the issues surrounding gender equality.
Many of these films also have accompanying discussion guides or teaching resources available which we will share with you at the time of booking.
Suffragette (12A)
Director: Sarah Gavron. UK. 2015. 106 mins.
The inspiring history of Britain’s early feminist movement is powerfully recreated in Suffragette.
Carey Mulligan stars as Maud, a young factory worker who discovers the cause in the early 1900s, eventually becoming radicalised by a fierce world of hunger strikes, guerrilla tactics and brutal government reprisals. Suffragette is not just entertaining, but also vibrant with cultural relevance.
Suitability: KS3, GCSE | Subjects: History, English, Drama, Media
Price: £3.50 per student (min 70 students) or flat £245 for smaller groups. Free for staff (1:10 ratio).
He Named Me Malala (PG)
Director: Davis Guggenheim. USA. 2015. 87 mins.
Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai survived a Taliban assassination attempt after she spoke out against their ban on female education. Oscar-winning documentarian Davis Guggenheim deepens our understanding of Malala’s motives and examines her impact around the world, building a moving portrait of an extraordinary teenager – the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Suitability: KS3, GCSE | Subjects: History, English, Drama, Media
Price: £3.50 per student (min 70 students) or flat £245 for smaller groups. Free for staff (1:10 ratio).
The Color Purple (15)
Director: Steven Spielberg. USA. 1985. 147 mins.
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple spans the years 1909 to 1949, relating the life of Celie, a Southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude to her brutal husband by her abusive and negectful father. Spielberg's film is ultimately one of triumph in extreme hardship the proves to be truly inspirational.
Suitability: KS3, GCSE | Subjects: History, English, Drama, Media
Price: £3.50 per student (min 70 students) or flat £245 for smaller groups. Free for staff (1:10 ratio).
Wadjda (PG)
Director: Haifaa Al Mansour. Saudi Arabia. 2012. 98 mins.
Wadjda is a ten-year-old girl living in Riyadh who decides she must do all she can to buy a beautiful bicycle in order to race and beat her friend Abdullah despite her community's refusal to allow women to ride bikes. The film at once a coming-of-age story as well as a sensitive social drama centred around family bonds competing with the demands of an authoritarian society.
Suitability: KS3, GCSE | Subjects: History, English, Drama, Media
Price: £3.50 per student (min 70 students) or flat £245 for smaller groups. Free for staff (1:10 ratio).
Thelma And Louise (15)
Director: Ridley Scott. USA. 1991. 130 mins.
Whilst on a short getaway, Louise shoots a man who has tried to rape Thelma. They make a run for it but are soon followed closely by the authorities. Their journey ultimately becomes one of self discovery as much as it is of escaping persecution. Thelma And Louise takes the well worn form of a classic road-movie buddy-picture, but our feminist heroines elevate it to an utter classic.
Suitability: KS3, GCSE | Subjects: History, English, Drama, Media
Price: £3.50 per student (min 70 students) or flat £245 for smaller groups. Free for staff (1:10 ratio).
Made in Dagenham (15)
Director: Nigel Cole. UK. 2010. 113 mins.
In 1968, female workers went on strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant over unequal rates of pay. Their protest gave huge impetus to the campaign for equal rights for women in the '70s, leading to the Sexual Discrimination Act of 1975. Forty-two years later, Nigel Cole's heartfelt dramatisation starring Sally Hawkins is a poignant reflection on British social reform with a breezy modern tone.
Suitability: KS3, GCSE | Subjects: History, English, Drama, Media
Price: £3.50 per student (min 70 students) or flat £245 for smaller groups. Free for staff (1:10 ratio).
Whale Rider (PG)
Director: Niki Caro. New Zealand. 2002. 101 mins.
A contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize. An uplifting and brazenly feminist tale that is fresh, observant, tough and genuinely moving.
Suitability: KS3, KS4 | Subjects: History, English, Media
Price: £3.50 per student (min 70 students) or flat £245 for smaller groups. Free for staff (1:10 ratio).
Queen of Katwe (PG)
Director: Mira Nair. USA. 2016. 124 mins.
A Ugandan girl sees her world rapidly change after being introduced to the game of chess.
Suitability: KS3, KS4 | Subjects: History, Geography, PHSE,
Price: £3.50 per student (min 70 students) or flat £245 for smaller groups. Free for staff (1:10 ratio).
Girlhood (15)
Director: Céline Sciamma. FR. 2014. 113 mins.
A girl with few real prospects joins a gang, reinventing herself and gaining a sense of self confidence in the process. However, she soon finds that this new life does not necessarily make her any happier.
Suitability: KS4 | Subjects: English, Media
Price: £3.50 per student (min 70 students) or flat £245 for smaller groups. Free for staff (1:10 ratio).
Mustang (15)
Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven. Turkish. 2015. 97 mins.
When five orphan girls are seen innocently playing with boys on a beach, their scandalised conservative guardians confine them while forced marriages are arranged.
Suitability: KS3, KS4 | Subjects: History, English, Media
Price: £3.50 per student (min 70 students) or flat £245 for smaller groups. Free for staff (1:10 ratio).