Open Letter to the British Film Institute

I want to hear from the Women who make the films i watch.

Men do not make better women than women.

There are many women in the film industry who would make perfect keynote speakers. Your choice of a male bodied person with zero background in film speaks volumes. Shame on you.

Why have you fallen for this bizarre myth that a man can be a woman just because he says so?

Former BBC news journalist

Seriously, you couldn’t find one actual, biological woman in the film Industry to do this speech?

This is a slap in the face to women, in the year of metoo it’s even more insulting.

I am as far from a rampant feminist as it is possible to be, but on every level this is wrong.

Berdof is male and has no business speaking on behalf of females. Actual women involved in filmaking & cinema are being trolled by the BFI here. It's hugely insulting to them on every level.

Oh, BFI - who put you in charge of feminism? Is it that difficult to promote women in film without including men? What is Bergdorf's achievement, beside those of the many women you've overlooked for this opportunity?

This choice is an insult to women in the film industry

A golden opportunity in the age of #metoo to hear from a woman working in the film industry. Plenty to choose from and you chose none of them. Bad look BFI. I give it NO STARS.

Could you not find a biological woman in the vast sea of talent and experience have? Shame on you.

Reagrdless of Bergdorf's publicly stated racist and misogynist statements, Bergdorf's is not invited over in filmmaking in any significant way and has not shared the lived experience of all biological women. If this was a celebration of trans people, then MB may be a perfect choice; in this celebration, it is tokenism.

Your decision to invite Munroe Bergdorf to be your keynote speaker at this event is incomprehensible and a gross insult!

This event is for women.

Munroe Bergdorf does not represent women. MB isn’t involved in the film industry. What contribution does this person make to a debate about women in film?

why are you supporting the Erasure of women BFI?

Please reconsider this decision. It is heart breaking to see that all the obstacles women have had to face (and will have to face) and overcome in my life time, negated by the choice of a natal male as "woman with a movie camera". I acknowledge that you consider Munroe's experience and work superior and worthy of a title, but to take it away from one of the few real women in your industry is a tragedy.

If this event is about women in film, inviting M Bergdorf, ie a biological man, to represent women is an insult not only to women in film but also to all women. It is only adding to women's struggle.