4th March 2020 - Misbehaviour

I went to see the British Library's screening of 'Misbehaviour’. The film is based on the story of the 1970 Miss World Finals and shows the Women's Liberation Movement's protest as well as the backstage lives of the contestants. It was funny and interesting, if a bit cleaned up, and it did try to cover both the feminist and racial contexts of the time. In 1970 Miss World not only included the first black women from South Africa, Pearl Janson but also the first Black Miss World, Jennifer Hoston from Grenada. After the movie there was a Q&A with two of the protesters, Sally Alexander and Jo Robinson along with the Director, Phillippa Lowthorpe and one of the producers, Suzanne Mackie. It was interesting to hear the voices of such amazing women speaking about the differences between the film and real life and the importance of the story being told by an all-female team. The film was written, directed and produced by women and I could feel the cheer when Philippa said that she was sick and tired of having women's stories told by men. One of the audience members was the recently crowned Miss Great Britain who said she loved the movie and was willing to take photos with the panel. The evening ended with me being able to have a very quick chat with both Jo and Sally about their continuing involvement in the movement.

By RD