Asynchronous Film Club, November 2020

It’s lockdown time again in the UK, which is making me a bit sad, and I want to do something to alleviate the pain. I don’t have a lot of time or energy, and nor do any of my friends, so it has to be something simple. For my birthday this year, my wife made me a schedule of heist films to watch week on week, and I absolutely loved it, so I thought I’d do the same for lockdown and make it public. I’d pick a theme and put together a list of 4 films, one a week, based around it. Everyone’s busy, so there’s no scheduled viewing, no scheduled discussion: just watch the film, if you like, and talk about it, if you like.

I wanted to put something together that would please everyone, and pick films that would be easy to rent or watch for free, but I don’t have the time or energy to do either, so I’ve just picked a bunch of movies I want to watch. If you like this and you’d like me to make something more accessible in future, then let me know!

So, the theme is “films from female directors which probably suffered in some fashion due to lockdown, are fun, and not depressing”. Catchy, huh?

Here are the films, plus a load of links related to each. If you watch them, let me know on Twitter or in the comments! I’d love to know what you think.

Rocks

4th November - 10th November

A teenage girl suddenly finds herself struggling to take care of herself and her younger brother.

How to Build a Girl

11th November - 17th November

The journey of Midlands teenager Johanna Morrigan, who reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde: fast-talking, lady sex-adventurer, moves to London, and gets a job as music critic in the hope of saving her poverty stricken family in Wolverhampton. Based on Caitlin Moran’s bestselling semi-autobiographical novel.

Misbehaviour

18th November - 24th November

A group of women involved in the Women’s Liberation Movement hatched a plan to invade the stage and disrupt the live broadcast at the 1970 Miss World competition in London, resulting in overnight fame for the newly-formed organization. When the show resumed the results caused an uproar, turning the Western ideal of beauty on it’s head.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

25th November - 1st December

An award-winning cynical journalist, Lloyd Vogel, begrudgingly accepts an assignment to write an Esquire profile piece on the beloved television icon Fred Rogers. After his encounter with Rogers, Vogel’s perspective on life is transformed.