{"id":2877,"date":"2025-07-11T13:28:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T12:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/?p=2877"},"modified":"2025-07-11T13:58:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T12:58:57","slug":"circles-britains-pioneering-womens-film-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/eternal-2877-circles-britains-pioneering-womens-film-platform","title":{"rendered":"Circles \u2013 Britain’s Pioneering Women’s Film Platform"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the highly politicised cultural landscape of the late 1970s, a unique organisation emerged in the United Kingdom: Circles. It was the nation’s first distribution<\/a> network solely dedicated to showcasing films and video art created by women artists. Thanks to Circles, the voices of female directors exploring themes of gender, politics, and aesthetic experimentation gained new prominence within the creative sphere. Read more on london-trend<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Founding and Evolution of Circles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The feminist film collective Circles began its operations in London in 1979. It emerged through the efforts of members of the London Filmmaker’s Co-op: Felicity Sparrow, Lis Rhodes, Jo Davis, and Annabel Nicholson. The collective’s initial meetings were held at Sparrow’s flat, where these women united not only to champion contemporary female directors but also to discover and popularise the work of forgotten film pioneers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Film selection at Circles was handled by an open viewing committee comprising representatives from diverse women’s groups. In 1987, this approach led to a significant shift: films by Black female directors came to the forefront. As noted by Circles member June Givanni, a special short film programme, ‘Black Women and Invisibility,’ was created to combat the oversight of women of colour within British cinema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circles organised small, specialised screenings exclusively for women at the Four Corners cinema in Bethnal Green, London. Additionally, it actively collaborated with other feminist organisations across the country. Filmmakers were invited to events to discuss their work, share experiences, and inspire others. The collective’s financial model was also distinctive. As Caroline Mertz noted, it aimed to return the largest possible share of rental income from films directly to the filmmakers. The organisation refused to lower rental fees, viewing it as a form of subsidy that could devalue the labour of the artists, many of whom worked unpaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond actively distributing contemporary women’s cinema, Circles played a crucial role in resurrecting the names of forgotten female directors who had been erased or ignored by traditional film history. It paid particular attention to researching pioneers such as Alice Guy-Blach\u00e9, Germaine Dulac, and Maya Deren. The collective not only studied their work but also acquired copies of previously inaccessible films, thereby ensuring their availability to new audiences and their inclusion in contemporary film discourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside Circles in London, another influential feminist distribution initiative operated: Cinema of Women. However, these two organisations had distinct approaches and focuses. Cinema of Women primarily distributed films focused on specific social campaigns, gender issues, and political activism, whereas Circles concentrated on artistic films, often encompassing performative practices and experimental cinema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the 1990s onwards, investment in women’s cultural initiatives began to dwindle. In 1992, Circles lost some financial support from the British Film Institute, prompting the organisation to rethink its strategy. This became the catalyst for a merger with Cinema of Women, which was also seeking new avenues for development at the time. The merger resulted in the birth of Cinenova \u2013 a new distribution structure that combined the experience, archives, and political priorities of both organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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beursschouwburg
\u00abNow Pretend\u00bb, 1992<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Legacy and Significance of Circles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Circles not only opened new avenues for showcasing women’s cinema but also offered an alternative model of film production and distribution based on principles of consensus, support, and equality. By the time it ceased operations, its catalogue encompassed over 200 films, representing almost a century of women’s filmmaking. The collective’s legacy was continued by Cinenova, which has since distributed over 500 films across various genres and formats \u2013 from experimental and artistic cinema to educational and documentary projects. The organisation’s catalogue covers themes of gender, race, sexuality, post-colonial experience, and decolonial resistance, maintaining a spirit of inclusion and socially critical thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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beursschouwburg
\u00abBack Inside Herself\u00bb, 1984<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the highly politicised cultural landscape of the late 1970s, a unique organisation emerged in the United Kingdom: Circles. It was the nation’s first distribution network solely dedicated to showcasing films and video art created by women artists. Thanks to Circles, the voices of female directors exploring themes of gender, politics, and aesthetic experimentation gained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":369,"featured_media":2856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[154],"tags":[2375,2376,2377,2290,2338,2339,2340,2342,1868],"motype":[160],"moformat":[20],"moimportance":[32,35],"class_list":{"0":"post-2877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kino","8":"tag-cinema-of-women-3","9":"tag-cinenova-3","10":"tag-circles-3","11":"tag-experimental-art","12":"tag-experimental-cinema","13":"tag-film-collectives","14":"tag-film-organisations","15":"tag-independent-art","16":"tag-independent-cinema","17":"motype-eternal","18":"moformat-vlasna","19":"moimportance-golovna-novyna","20":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatory"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/369"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2877"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2878,"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877\/revisions\/2878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2877"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=2877"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=2877"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london-trend.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=2877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}