Photo courtesy of Pukka Herbs
FilmBath’s Holly Tarquini (pictured here with embroiderer Lou Gardiner, and Laura Lewis-Paul who runs a Bristol record label) developed the F-Rating and attracted international attention
Local sheroes It’s been 100 years since women got the vote, and International Women’s Day is coming up, so here we meet 17 local inspirations – from a Paralympian who makes it her business to let people know how happy she is to have one foot, to a woman who has rescued 1,000 dogs…
S
By L i sa E va ns
o, here we are in 2018 and we’re celebrating a momentous centenary – when (some) women first won the right to vote in the UK. Women’s rights have improved enormously since that landmark day in 1918, but there’s still a long way to go. Ahead of International Women’s Day (8 March), we want to shout about and celebrate local women. Read on to hear the stories of world recordbreakers, selfless charity workers, trailblazing teens, sporting heroes, academic superstars, and women who laugh in the face of adversity.
A setback doesn’t stop you from moving forward unless you let it
Holly Tarquini
Executive director at FilmBath, and founder of the F-Rating – a feminist film rating now used by over 60 organisations Tell us about you… In my 20s I was a producer/director, making documentaries for organisations such as the BBC, Channel 4, and the Discovery Channel. 32 I BATH LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk
After 12 years, I discovered yoga, moved to India and set up a guest house for yoga students. In 2011, I joined FilmBath. Then you developed the F-Rating? Yes, in 2014. It’s a film rating designed to highlight films directed by and/or written by women. If films also star significant women, then the film is Triple F-Rated. The F-Rating attracted international attention, and there are now over 60 organisations which F-rate their programmes. In 2017, ‘F-Rated’ was added to over 22,000 films on the Internet Movie Database – one of the most visited websites in the world.
Share your feminist journey… It’s revealed my own internal misogyny – in other words, the ways I judge myself (not thin enough; too young or too old; not the right person to be speaking out, and so on) as well as the ways in which I judge other women. Recognising all of this, unpicking it, and trying to ensure my daughters have a different internal world-view is an ongoing challenge.