GB 2010, D Nigel Cole, SC William Ivory, C John de Borman, E Michael Parker, M David Arnold, P Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen, Number 9 Films, Cast Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike, Andrea Riseborough, Daniel Mays, Print colour, DCP from 35mm, 108 min, English OV with electronic German SUB, TOBIS Film

Introduction by Kirsten Huckenbeck

Made in Dagenham is a dramatization about the sewing machinists strike at Ford’s Dagenham plant in England, which led to the passing of the British Equal Pay Act, and to the eventual passing of similar legislation around the world. Sally Hawkins plays Rita O’Grady, the strong-willed, soft-spoken machinist who led the women to strike for equality despite pressure from their husbands, their union and their political representatives. It’s a purely feminist film that feels like a combination of Milk and Mad Men - an honest look at the role of women in the ’60s, working overtime, cooking supper, fighting for civil rights and getting the kids off to school while their husbands sleep on the couch. It’s a film that blatantly condemns sexism and shows, despite its mostly light tone, the real cost of fighting for civil rights. (Tom Henheffer, Maclean’s, 2010).