Melanie Iredale, the director at UK equality in film organisation, Reclaim The Frame, reveals how she curates her cultural feed.
I feel lucky to be surrounded by brilliant friends in the industry, whose tastes I admire. I watched Sophy Romvari’s Blue Heron recently, knowing nothing other than the fact it’s being released by Conic, the distributor we worked with on Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, so I rate their slate.
Closer to home, my young nieces showed clear signs of great taste when they came for a sleepover recently and recommended Cruella, which was a lot of fun.
I have a good friend, Rosh, who’s a development exec, from whom I learn a lot about TV through her insights on the craft of screenwriting and storylining. One of her suggestions was The Pitt, which comes with just the right amount of nostalgia for those of us who enjoyed the ER days.
My partner is a specialist in Irish cinema. She introduced me to feminist filmmakers of the ’80s, like Pat Murphy and Margo Harkin, and we’ll always watch most of what’s coming out of Ireland. I’ve been really moved by Aisha and Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story over the last couple of years, and I’m loving what’s coming out of Cillian Murphy’s new production company.
I’m part of a couple of queer WhatsApp and Facebook groups, mostly people sharing events they’re either producing or attending. Our local is the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield, so sometimes we’re there, sometimes more DIY venues. I’m more likely to be the one recommending new releases, but I’m always wanting older film recommendations and TV recommendations. I’m months late to the Heated Rivalry party, for example, but I’ve got there.
I’m also part of a number of doc-focused groups from my Sheffield DocFest days. Mostly filmmakers themselves, lifting up each other’s work, and doc programmers. Jeanie Finlay has just premiered what is at least her 10th feature, at CPH:DOX [All Rivers Spill Their Stories To The Sea], so I’m looking forward to that.
I regularly go to Rotten Tomatoes to see who’s written on what. Where it’s a queer film, I’ll always look for a queer perspective if I can get one, like Autostraddle.
I find socials especially useful for helping me discover films from the Global South, too few of which reach the UK beyond festivals. I’m into cinema from the Arab and Persian regions, especially, so I follow a number of festivals and collectives from that part of the world. Palestine Film Institute streams a film a week for free. And here in the UK, following the work of writers and curators such as Abla Kandalaft, Hanna Flint and Elhum Shakerifar has helped me find new films and filmmakers over the years, and appreciate them all the more.
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