Viva Lewes Issue #156 September 2019

ON THIS MONTH: FESTIVAL
A Gude Cause Maks A Strong Erm by Martin Laird
WOFFF
Tackling invisibility
With or Without You by Angela Prudenzi
WOFFF – the Women Over 50 Film Festival –
is about to have its fifth outing. It’s running at
Depot from 20th-22nd September. I sat down
with founder Nuala O’Sullivan to hear all her
inspiring reasons why.
“I started WOFFF with a pal in Brighton”, she
says. “I was a writer and producer frustrated at
what wasn’t happening for me and others. I really
felt the invisibility of being a woman over 50.”
So WOFFF “celebrates older women in front
of and behind the camera”. Every film that
shows at the festival either stars or is made –
meaning written, directed or produced – by a
woman over 50.
Nuala is thrilled the festival, for the second time,
is at Depot. “It’s such a fantastic set-up,” she
says. “The Depot screams Festival!” She’s clearly
passionate about WOFFF and the platform
it’s now providing. “If you build it, people will
come.” And come they have.
WOFFF screens mainly short films: that’s its
focus, a medium Nuala herself appreciates and
works in. When I ask, what’s the relation of a
short to a feature film, she says “It’s like a short
story compared with a novel.
“Shorts – which tend to be up to about 20
minutes long – are filled with micro touches – all
films are, of course – but screening these shorts,
we see such gems. And shorts can be exciting too.
Often you get to see people’s work before they
become well known. So one year we showed The
Farmer’s Wife, a short by Francis Lee starring
Geraldine James. That was before his breakout
feature, God’s Own Country. And we see really
astonishing, varied work in shorts from countries
like Afghanistan, Taiwan and Iran” she tells me.
Highlighting and fighting sexism and ageism
is one struggle of older women but of course
younger women face similar but different issues.
“Older women become invisible whereas younger
women can feel horribly scrutinised: we need to
get together, compare notes, and support each
other. Older women are full of resourcefulness
and resilience. They’re often overlooked despite
the richness of their stories.” Nuala, quoting
Ashton Applewhite (from This Chair Rocks: A
Manifesto Against Ageism), says, “Ageism is just
discrimination against your older self.”
So how does the Festival unfold? “From
more than 220 submissions we’ve selected 60
short films to show at Depot over the festival
weekend.”
There is also a host of workshops – such as how
to make a film on your mobile phone and how
to write older female characters. “We want
everyone to feel welcome – that’s why we subtitle
all 60 of the shorts we screen. We want to make
sure deaf and hard of hearing people, who are
often older, feel included at WOFFF.” There are
free events too, including a lecture by Professor
Brenda R Weber from Indiana University. Free
events have been part of WOFFF since it started
in 2015. “Getting older often means dealing with
poverty and isolation,” says Nuala. “Inclusivity is
part of WOFFF’s DNA.”
I loved talking to her. Nuala O’Sullivan is one
inspiring woman. Charlotte Gann
wofff.co.uk
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