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Suffragette leads Abi Morgan to focus on women-based projects Suffragette leads Abi Morgan to focus on women-based projects
(about 3 hours later)
Abi Morgan, the award-winning film and TV writer, has said that she plans to work only on projects that focus on women for the next few years, after her experiences on her latest movie, Suffragette. Abi Morgan, the award-winning film and TV writer, has said she plans to work only on projects that focus on women for the next few years, after her experiences on her latest movie, Suffragette.
Morgan, who wrote the screenplay for the film, starring Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan, said the success she had achieved on projects including The Hour and The Iron Lady had given her the confidence to take more risks in the projects she pitched to producers and broadcasters.Morgan, who wrote the screenplay for the film, starring Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan, said the success she had achieved on projects including The Hour and The Iron Lady had given her the confidence to take more risks in the projects she pitched to producers and broadcasters.
Speaking on a panel at the BFI London Film Festival on Friday, Morgan said that she had realised, “with the little bit of success and power I have, I could try to say, ‘For the next four or five years, I’m just writing films and TV that focus on women’ — and that is what I am going to do.” Speaking on a panel at the BFI London Film Festival on Friday, Morgan said that she had realised, “with the little bit of success and power I have, I could try to say, ‘For the next four or five years, I’m just writing films and TV that focus on women’ –and that is what I am going to do.”
In addition to Suffragette, Morgan has written a new six-part detective drama, River, which she has said will explore issues of mental health and will be screened on BBC1 from next week.In addition to Suffragette, Morgan has written a new six-part detective drama, River, which she has said will explore issues of mental health and will be screened on BBC1 from next week.
The Bafta- and Emmy-winning dramatist cautioned, however, that while she may be “big in the UK”, her influence in Hollywood is limited. “I can go to the BBC and say, ‘OK, my next drama is for women, and it is diverse women.’ I take that to America, however, and I have another set of conversations.”The Bafta- and Emmy-winning dramatist cautioned, however, that while she may be “big in the UK”, her influence in Hollywood is limited. “I can go to the BBC and say, ‘OK, my next drama is for women, and it is diverse women.’ I take that to America, however, and I have another set of conversations.”
To gasps from the audience, Morgan said she had been dropped as a screenwriter from a film project only two or three years ago “because I was told I didn’t know how to flirt with the director”.To gasps from the audience, Morgan said she had been dropped as a screenwriter from a film project only two or three years ago “because I was told I didn’t know how to flirt with the director”.
“But one of the things I feel more and more is that I use each [project], and my experience on Suffragette has been really, really healing, because I have reclaimed some power.”“But one of the things I feel more and more is that I use each [project], and my experience on Suffragette has been really, really healing, because I have reclaimed some power.”
The film, which also had a female director and producers and a production crew that was almost all women, is the first ever mainstream film about the British campaign for equal votes a century ago.The film, which also had a female director and producers and a production crew that was almost all women, is the first ever mainstream film about the British campaign for equal votes a century ago.
Its premiere in London on Wednesday night was disrupted by a group of women protesting about domestic violence, who lay down on the red carpet and shouted “dead women can’t vote”. Morgan has described their actions as “fantastic” and in “the spirit of Emmeline Pankhurst”, the leader of the suffragette movement.Its premiere in London on Wednesday night was disrupted by a group of women protesting about domestic violence, who lay down on the red carpet and shouted “dead women can’t vote”. Morgan has described their actions as “fantastic” and in “the spirit of Emmeline Pankhurst”, the leader of the suffragette movement.
Speaking to the BBC, Streep, who plays Pankhurst in the movie, blamed “a conspiracy of silence” for the delay in bringing the suffragettes’ story to the big screen.Speaking to the BBC, Streep, who plays Pankhurst in the movie, blamed “a conspiracy of silence” for the delay in bringing the suffragettes’ story to the big screen.
“For a long time it was difficult to convince the people in a position to make decisions – who were mostly male – that it was interesting to anyone. It wasn’t their fight.“For a long time it was difficult to convince the people in a position to make decisions – who were mostly male – that it was interesting to anyone. It wasn’t their fight.
“But, increasingly, we think now that women’s rights and issues are men’s issues, it belongs to all of us to right this imbalance in the world. Certain things have changed in our industry to allow them to understand that women will be interested in this film, and so will men.”“But, increasingly, we think now that women’s rights and issues are men’s issues, it belongs to all of us to right this imbalance in the world. Certain things have changed in our industry to allow them to understand that women will be interested in this film, and so will men.”