The "7+7" online festival is hosting free screenings of short films by prominent, young Ukrainian and British women directors, award nominees and laureates of the biggest festivals, as well as educational online events about women in the film industry. Taking place over seven weeks, the gathering aims to increase the visibility of contemporary women directors in the modern film industry and to promote the values of equality, mutual respect, inclusion and diversity. The event was initiated by the VoD platform Takflix in cooperation with the London Short Film Festival, and is supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and British Council Ukraine.

Every week during the festival, two films (Ukrainian and British) will be available for free screenings in Ukraine and the UK. The line-up ranges from iconic films such as Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) to educational and propaganda films like A Woman about a Woman (1930) by Ukrainian director Yivha Hrygorovych and Fitness Wins: 4 and 20 Fit Girls (1940) by Brit Mary Field. They will be supplemented by a pseudo-documentary based on archival footage, I Want to Become a Secretary (2007) by famous British feminist Sarah Wood.

The programme includes the short Ophelia from the almanac Three Stories (1997) by outstanding Ukrainian director Kira Muratova, as well as Lilac (2017) by Kateryna Gornostai, known for the Berlinale prizewinner Stop-Zemlia [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Kateryna Gornostai
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The festival also showcases films that deal with contemporary issues – in particular, Diaper Cake (2021) by Anastasia Babenko, End-O (2019) by Alice Seabright, Bond (2018) by Zhanna Ozirna, Good Night (2012) by Muriel D’Ansembourg and After the Break (1988) by Anette Kennerley.

7+7 will present the acclaimed 1991 autobiographical film The Body Beautiful by British-Nigerian director Ngozi Onwurah, one of the first black female directors in the UK. The programme includes animated short films as well — My Fat Arse and I (2021) by Elizaveta Pismak and What She Wants (2012) by Ruth Lingford.

The educational programme includes talks on women curators, pioneering women in film, a gender-focused view of early Ukrainian cinema, women in the contemporary film industry, feminist film criticism, being a woman filmmaker, and the position of women producers.

The full line-up of films and talks can be found here, and this is also the website where you can stream the films.