8 March 2005 - ILO Geneva International Women's Day "Women Behind the Camera: Moving into Focus"
This year, the International Labour Organization (ILO) will celebrate International Women's Day by hosting a round table discussion and a film festival focusing on women film directors. The ILO's commitment to the promotion of gender equality and the improvement of working conditions for women will therefore be approached from two angles - that of the women film directors, operating in a sector where successful women are still a minority, and that of the work these women do, which often sheds light on social problems that would otherwise have gone unnoticed by the public. The second annual ILO International Film Festival on Women and Work will take place from March 4th to the 10th at the CAC Voltaire cinema in Geneva. All screenings will be open to the public and free of charge. The films will be shown in their original language with French subtitles. The overriding theme for the films will be "women and work", but some other issues they may touch upon include child labour, globalization, safety and health at work, social security and decent work. The panel discussion will be held at the International Labour Office in Geneva on Tuesday 8 March from 14:30 to 16:00 and will welcome international women directors, Claire Denis (L'intrus, Vendredi Soir, Trouble Everyday, Beau Travail, Nénette et Boni, Chocolat) and Pamela Rooks (Dance like a Man, Train to Pakistan, Miss Beatty's Children). They will talk about gender equality in the film industry and their experiences in the world of film. o o o Claire Denis: Born in Paris in 1948, Claire Denis lived in Africa until the age of 14. A graduate of the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques, she worked as an assistant to Costa Gavras, Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch before directing her first feature film Chocolat (1988). In her body of work, Denis sets an implacable gaze on the male forces that structure life according to the rules of violence and pressure. Her films show compassion and understanding of the plight of the marginalized and the outcast. Thus, she deals with issues affecting immigrants in S'en fout la mort (1990), and AIDS in J'ai pas sommeil (1993). Pamela Rooks: Pamela Rooks was born in Calcutta. Since 1986, she has produced documentaries and current affairs programmes for Indian Television. Her documentaries, always topical and socially relevant, have dealt with subjects as diverse as Chipko: A Response to the forest Crisis, Girl child: Fighting for Survival, Punjab: A Human Tragedy, Indian cinema: The Winds of Change, Indian wildlife: Trading to Extinction. She has also worked as Line Producer on documentaries on Kashmir and the AIDS Crisis for Channel Four, and a documentary on the Portuguese for Atlantique Productions (France). Pamela Rooks has also published a book of poems Final exposure and a novel Miss beatty's children, on which her first feature was based. Miss beatty's children, starring Jenny Seagrove, was selected in 1993 as the opening film of the Indian Panorama at the International Film Festival in New Delhi. It has won the Arvindan Puraskaram, the Indira Gandhi National Award, the National Awards for the best Cinematography and Best processed Film. The film has since been screened at several International Film Festivals, including Montreal and Los Angeles. In 1994, she did a documentary called Turmoil in paradise, which examined the human implications of the political scenario in Kashmir. This was followed by a second feature film, Train to pakistan. This was selected yet again for the Indian Panorama in 1998, which features the best of Indian cinema. Train to pakistan has been widely screened at several International film festivals. It opened in the U.S. in August 1998. Pamela's third feature is Dance like a man, which has been highly acclaimed. It won a prize for "Outstanding Film Creativity" in New York and the National Award for the Best Film in English for 2003. o o o Further information: International Labour Office (ILO) 4 route des Morillons Phone: 022/799-7912 Public transport: Bus 8/28/F BIT stop CAC Voltaire Maison des Arts du Grütli 16 rue Général-Dufour Phone: 022/320-7878 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Public transport: Tram 12, Bus 3/5 Place Neuve stop _________________________________ Labour Notes South Asia (LNSA): An informal archive and mailing list for trade unionists and labour activists based in or working on South asia. LNSA Mailing List: Labour Notes South Asia To subscribe send a blank message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> LNSA Web site: groups.yahoo.com/group/lnsa/ Run by The South Asia Citizens Web www.sacw.net _________________________________ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/Tcy2bD/SOnJAA/cosFAA/e0EolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To join the Labour Notes South Asia Mailing List, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lnsa/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
