Open Letter to the British Film Institute

In the midst of #me too which has brought women's voices forward in the film industry, the BFI has a responsibility to ensure 'Women with a Movie Camera' reflects and amplifies women working for better representation both on and off screen.

If she was a filmmaker, maybe I could understand it. As it is, I can't even.

A Woman should be chosen to celebrate “ woman with a movie camera” NOT a man in a dress

BFI has insulted women working with and behind a movie camera by choosing a self centered nincompoop who has publicly, gleefully and self righteously slured gay men, lesbians, women in general and feminists in particular and whose only claim to a filmmaking career is a self aggrandizing TV documentary. Munroe Bergdorf has ill gotten fame from colonizing womanhood while declaring herself a victim and of course done the “empowering” posing for Playboy cliché. Even in the year of #metoo and Time’s Up women are lauded for their emulation of porn star fuckability and regressive notions of femininity. This isn’t diversity Amanda Nevill & BFI, this is a publicity stunt that cheapens your organization.

Truly BFI has really pulled out all the ‘stops’ to show how ‘woke’ they are! Replacing women , at a woman and film event, with men is truly ‘woke’....seriously!

there must be at least one female film maker who could do the keynote slot. just one?

He's a man. Plenty of talented women in the film industry you could have chosen.

So many women behind cameras and you select a man who earns a living IN FRONT of cameras? The disrespect is shocking.

Surely a woman in the film industry would be the most appropriate keynote speaker.

Munroe calls lesbians "barren hairy dykes". He told women to be silent about our reproductive rights. He's as anti-women as Harvey Weinstein.

This is an inappropriate choice - Bergdorf is neither female nor a professional filmmaker. Very disrespectful to females in the film industry. After Weinstein and MeToo, you should know better.

While transgender persons face their own struggles these are not the same or comparable to women's challenges. It is NOT AVANTE GARD or progressive to replace a female with a male speaker at your event about females.

A trans male who was in a documentary once? Really? Pick again BFI.

Awful get Angelina Jollie

"Woman with a Movie Camera" When you're not matching up your keynote speaker with the very aims of your programme, something has gone wrong.

My support of this is not anti-trans - and should not be seen as such although I know people like to skew it as that - but the simple fact that you have chosen a trans woman with little experience of what it means to be a 'woman with a movie camera' it's insulting to those of us who know what that is really like. This is just virtue signalling and embarrassingly so. You have let down women in a male dominated industry.

Bergdorf is a man and should have no place in standing as a woman with women film makers....just another example of male ego getting under the feet of women who take their art seriously.

Please choose a woman

Seriously?

I think it would be great if we could have events for women that are about women that can Center women. There are lots of actual female film makers who would make much better Candidates for this.