University of Westminster students presented Nobody’s Perfect: LGBTQ+ Representations on Film at the St Pancras Hospital gallery space on Tuesday 15 February 2023, as part of the University’s ongoing programme of LGBT+ History Month events.
The event formed part of the Quintin Hogg Trust-funded project Facing the Public in association with the Arts Project and their annual Loudest Whispers exhibition held to mark LGBT+ History Month. The exhibition promotes LGBT+ artists based in Camden and Islington.
The event also closely aligned with this year’s LGBT+ History Month theme Behind the Lens, which celebrates the many achievements and lives of the rarely seen LGBTQ+ people who have contributed to theatre and film.
Pippa Catterall, Professor of History and Policy at Westminster, introduced the students, who explored how LGBTQ+ people have historically been represented, marginalised, and stereotyped in films.
Westminster student Martha Jennings, whose artwork was showcased at the Loudest Whispers LGBT+ annual exhibition, explored the lesbian gaze in film history and how lesbian filmmakers are working to change LGBTQ+ representation in film and television. Maddalena Tenuti then spoke about how lesbian characters continue to be objectified on screen.
Martha Jennings exploring the lesbian gaze in film (Credit: Richard Kaby)
Victoire Georget discussing bisexual representation in cinema (Credit: Richard Kaby)
Maddalena Tenuti speaking about lesbian character's objectification on screen
They were followed by students Emma Broderick and Lois Pearson, who explored the queer coding of characters in children and young people’s film and television series and the importance for young LGBTQ+ people to feel represented on screen. Isla Ley then discussed the need to allow transgender people to tell their own stories in films and how it is still seen as largely unusual to see LGBTQ+ characters on screen.
Victoire Georget, who brought the discussion to its close, examined how film has enabled myths and misunderstandings about bisexual people to rise. She called for more kissing and positive displays of affection between LGBTQ+ people on film, rather than the over sexualisation of such characters which she noted is still all too common.
Speaking about the event, Professor Catterall said: “Not only did the students speak powerfully to the themes of the presentation, but in the process, they movingly drew upon their own lived experiences. They were thought-provoking, funny, engaging and brave. It’s been great to have this opportunity in partnership with Loudest Whispers.”
Find out more about how the University is supporting LGBT+ history month.
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