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Promotional image of the cycle on women screenwriters They had the floor

Silent films in a woman's voice

The Filmoteca de Catalunya dedicates a cycle to the female screenwriters and directors of Hollywood in the first third of the 20th century.

Throughout 2023, the Fimoteca de Catalunya will highlight the figure and work of eight of the most significant and prolific American actresses and female screenwriters and producers of the 1920s. At that time, two thirds of the audiences that filled US movie theatres were women.

To make films to their liking, Hollywood studios hired numerous female screenwriters -a third of the profession's payroll- who gave a corresponding 'woman's touch' to a usually male perspective. Some of them were also directors, such as Lenore Coffee (twice nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, for Street of Chance and for Four Daughters), Frances Marion (Love), Anita Loos (The Half Breed), Jeanie MacPherson (The Cheat), June Mathis (Ben Hur), Agnes Christine Johnston (Show People) and Clara Beranger (Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde). Lois Weber, David Wark Griffith's competitor in both quantity and quality, deserves a special mention. She pioneered the use of the split-screen technique to show simultaneous action, presented the first female frontal nude scene and, since her debut in 1911, captured in more than a hundred films -of which only twenty have survived- her concerns for humanity and social justice, addressing issues such as miscegenation, abortion, materialism, consumerism, sexual exploitation and selfishness.

During the first half of February, the Filmoteca de Catalunya is programming the cycle They had the floor: women screenwriters in silent Hollywood, with three double screenings of the following films: The Half-Breed, by Allan Dwan, from 1916, with script by Anita Loos (on 1 and 8 February at 8 and 6 pm, respectively), Love, by Edmund Goulding and John Gilbert, from 1927, with script by Frances Marion (on 2 and 11 a February at 5 and 8 pm, respectively), and Joan the Woman, by Cecil B. DeMille, from 1916, with script by Jeanie MacPherson (on 2 and 16 Febrary at 8 and 6 pm, respectively).

The first screening of each film will be preceded by a presentation by Giuliana Muscio, professor at the University of Padua, a specialist in the relationship between Italian and American cinema. All screenings will feature live music specially composed and performed by Anahit Simonian for The Half-Breed and Love, and by Josep Maria Baldomà for Joan the Woman.

Tickets for each session cost 4 euros and can be purchased in advance by clicking on each of the films listed in this link.

Publication date: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
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