Commemorating 100 years since women first gained the right to vote in the UK, this week Barbican Cinema is presenting Nevertheless, She Persisted: Suffrage, cinema and beyond, a feminist film series documenting women we should all know about.
The season opens on April 18 with Chisholm ’72 – Unbought and Unbossed, a documentary about Brooklynite Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the US Congress in 1968. Despite being faced with both racism and sexism, Chisholm persevered through with her ground-breaking campaign, in a way that inspired many and should be remembered today. She went on to become the first black woman to seek the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States. The documentary features interviews with both her supporters and opponents, and its screening will end with a discussion with Bonnie Greer and Harini Lyengar.
The series of feature films and documentaries from around the world will continue to look at the struggles fought by women to gain equality, such as through the story of Malalai Joya, who ran in the first parliamentary elections in Afghanistan in nearly 30 years, “We’re looking at different struggles by women to gain a voice in the public sphere, more broadly than just in institutional politics”, season curator Gali Gold told The Independent.
The series starts on April 18 and ends on April 24 – see the full programme here. Watch an exclusive clip of Chisholm ’72 above.