'Women Make Film VII' marks the end of the journey through the work of the world’s greatest women directors and concludes with the biggest themes of all: life, love, and death. This screening features screenings of six chapters from Mark Cousins’ Women Make Film.

In ‘Life Inside’, Cousins describes how directors have illuminated inner life. Next, ‘The Meaning of Life’ looks at how filmmakers attempt to invoke life by responding to our lives, whether it’s realising that empathy is key to life or seeing time passes before our eyes. ‘Love’ reminds us of the magic moment in full bloom and its pitfalls.

‘Death’, a theme embraced by all filmmakers, begins with the fascination for stylised deaths in its simplest form as well as its destructive shock. The programme winds down with ‘Endings’, from unfamiliar ones to bold, uncertain ones that can be happy or sad. Women Make Film ends with ‘Song and Dance’ by looking at how cinema uses musical elements of theatre and opera to increase a sense of movement.

Women Make Film, Cousins’ epic journey, ends with Beyonce’s visual album, Lemonade.

Mark Cousins (b. 1965, England) is a filmmaker, critic, and programmer based in Edinburgh. He is known for The First Movie (2009), The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011), A Story of Children and Film (2013) and The Eyes of Orson Welles (2018). He is the co-founder with Tilda Swinton of the 8½ Foundation.