Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She previously taught at Bulmershe College, the London College of Printing, the University of East Anglia, and the British Film Institute. Mulvey is best known for her essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", written in 1973 and published in 1975 in the influential British film theory journal Screen. Mulvey also was prominent as an avant-garde filmmaker in the 1970s and 1980s.

Crystal Gazing (1982)

Experimental drama set in London during the Thatcher administration involving four characters: Neil, a science-fiction illustrator, who is accidentally killed in Mexico City; Kim, a woman rock musician; Vermilion, an analyst of satellite photography; and Julian, an ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST:  Lora Logic  •  Gavin Richards  •  Mary Maddox  •  Jeff Rawle

Experimental drama set in London during the Thatcher administration involving four characters: Neil, a science-fiction illustrator, who is accidentally killed in Mexico City; Kim, a woman rock musician; Vermilion, an analyst of satellite photography; and Julian, an ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST:  Lora Logic  •  Gavin Richards  •  Mary Maddox  •  Jeff Rawle

Amy! (1979)

Amy Johnson was the first woman to fly solo from Great Britain to Australia. Mulvey and Wollen’s experimental documentary combines newsreel footage of the aviator’s arrival, dramatic recreations of events from her life and contemporary discussions by feminist ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST: 

Amy Johnson was the first woman to fly solo from Great Britain to Australia. Mulvey and Wollen’s experimental documentary combines newsreel footage of the aviator’s arrival, dramatic recreations of events from her life and contemporary discussions by feminist ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST: 

Riddles of the Sphinx (1977)

Mulvey's readings of the myth of Oedipus and the sphinx are layered atop 360º panning shots of various locales; the protagonist appears in elliptically-edited sequences.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST:  Dinah Stabb  •  Clive Merrison  •  Laura Mulvey  •  Carole James

Mulvey's readings of the myth of Oedipus and the sphinx are layered atop 360º panning shots of various locales; the protagonist appears in elliptically-edited sequences.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST:  Dinah Stabb  •  Clive Merrison  •  Laura Mulvey  •  Carole James

Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti (1983)

An unconventional portrait of painter Frida Kahlo and photographer Tina Modotti. Simple in style but complex in its analysis, it explores the divergent themes and styles of two contemporary and radical women artists working in the upheaval of the aftermath of the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST:  Frida Kahlo  •  Tina Modotti  •  Diego Rivera  •  Miriam Margolyes

An unconventional portrait of painter Frida Kahlo and photographer Tina Modotti. Simple in style but complex in its analysis, it explores the divergent themes and styles of two contemporary and radical women artists working in the upheaval of the aftermath of the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST:  Frida Kahlo  •  Tina Modotti  •  Diego Rivera  •  Miriam Margolyes

Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons (1974)

Penthesilea, the first of six films made by Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen, traverses thousands of years to look at the image of the Amazonian woman in myth. It asks, among other questions, is the Amazonian woman a rare strong female image or is she a figure derived ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST:  Jan Creighton  •  Michael Thomas  •  Debra Dolnansky  •  Jim Goode

Penthesilea, the first of six films made by Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen, traverses thousands of years to look at the image of the Amazonian woman in myth. It asks, among other questions, is the Amazonian woman a rare strong female image or is she a figure derived ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST:  Jan Creighton  •  Michael Thomas  •  Debra Dolnansky  •  Jim Goode

23rd August 2008 (2013)

23 August 2008 consists of two shots. A brief opening shot, intercut with inter-titles, of the famous Al-Mutanabbi Street book market in Baghdad is followed by an unbroken eighteen-minute monologue, shot from a single, still camera position and simply recording the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mark Lewis  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST: 

23 August 2008 consists of two shots. A brief opening shot, intercut with inter-titles, of the famous Al-Mutanabbi Street book market in Baghdad is followed by an unbroken eighteen-minute monologue, shot from a single, still camera position and simply recording the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mark Lewis  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST: 

The Amazed Spectator (2016)

A kino-investigation about spectatorship, a continuous conversation between different kinds of spectators: which one is more cinema: Citizen Kane on a mobile phone or a football game projected in a cinema theatre? What is the cinema of uncertainty? How many kinds ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Edgar Pêra
CAST:  Laura Mulvey  •  Miguel Borges  •  Eduardo Lourenço  •  Olaf Möller

A kino-investigation about spectatorship, a continuous conversation between different kinds of spectators: which one is more cinema: Citizen Kane on a mobile phone or a football game projected in a cinema theatre? What is the cinema of uncertainty? How many kinds ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Edgar Pêra
CAST:  Laura Mulvey  •  Miguel Borges  •  Eduardo Lourenço  •  Olaf Möller

The Illusionists (2015)

Sex sells. What sells even more? Insecurity. Multi-billion dollar industries saturate our lives with images of unattainable beauty, exporting body hatred from New York to Beirut to Tokyo. Their target? Women, and increasingly men and children. "The Illusionists" ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Elena Rossini
CAST:  Jean Kilbourne  •  Susie Orbach  •  Laura Mulvey  •  Gail Dines

Sex sells. What sells even more? Insecurity. Multi-billion dollar industries saturate our lives with images of unattainable beauty, exporting body hatred from New York to Beirut to Tokyo. Their target? Women, and increasingly men and children. "The Illusionists" ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Elena Rossini
CAST:  Jean Kilbourne  •  Susie Orbach  •  Laura Mulvey  •  Gail Dines

The Bad Sister (1983)

Jane is the illegitimate daughter of a Scottish landowner. She is disowned and expelled from his estates, but although she settles down to a new life in London, she is still haunted by the memory of her childhood and her mother's mysterious death. In a trance, she ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST:  Dawn Archibald  •  Kevin McNally  •  Matyelok Gibbs  •  Marty Cruikshank

Jane is the illegitimate daughter of a Scottish landowner. She is disowned and expelled from his estates, but although she settles down to a new life in London, she is still haunted by the memory of her childhood and her mother's mysterious death. In a trance, she ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Wollen  •  Laura Mulvey
CAST:  Dawn Archibald  •  Kevin McNally  •  Matyelok Gibbs  •  Marty Cruikshank

The Cinema of Stephen Dwoskin (1984)

A exploration of the origin, theory, philosophy and themes of Stephen Dwoskin's films from 1963 to 1984.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Anna Ambrose
CAST:  Stephen Dwoskin  •  Laura Mulvey  •  Raymond Durgnat  •  Jacques Ledoux

A exploration of the origin, theory, philosophy and themes of Stephen Dwoskin's films from 1963 to 1984.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Anna Ambrose
CAST:  Stephen Dwoskin  •  Laura Mulvey  •  Raymond Durgnat  •  Jacques Ledoux

Disgraced Monuments (1994)

Filmmakers Laura Mulvey and Mark Lewis use rare archival footage and interviews with artists, art historians, and museum directors to examine the fate of Soviet-era monuments during successive political regimes, from the Russian Revolution through the collapse of ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Laura Mulvey  •  Mark Lewis
CAST:  Petra Markham  •  Pavel Gatynya

Filmmakers Laura Mulvey and Mark Lewis use rare archival footage and interviews with artists, art historians, and museum directors to examine the fate of Soviet-era monuments during successive political regimes, from the Russian Revolution through the collapse of ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Laura Mulvey  •  Mark Lewis
CAST:  Petra Markham  •  Pavel Gatynya

Open Door: The Other Cinema (1977)

Avant-garde appeal on behalf of and made by the adventurous leftist London cinema, The Other Cinema, using the facilities provided by the BBC community programme unit.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Stephen Dwoskin
CAST:  Stephen Dwoskin  •  Nicky Hamlyn  •  Ivor Montagu  •  Edgar Anstey

Avant-garde appeal on behalf of and made by the adventurous leftist London cinema, The Other Cinema, using the facilities provided by the BBC community programme unit.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Stephen Dwoskin
CAST:  Stephen Dwoskin  •  Nicky Hamlyn  •  Ivor Montagu  •  Edgar Anstey

Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power (2022)

Investigates the politics of cinematic shot design, and how this meta-level of filmmaking intersects with the twin epidemics of sexual abuse/assault and employment discrimination against women, with over 80 movie clips from 1896 - 2020.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Nina Menkes
CAST:  Rosanna Arquette  •  Penelope Spheeris  •  Catherine Hardwicke  •  Nina Menkes

Investigates the politics of cinematic shot design, and how this meta-level of filmmaking intersects with the twin epidemics of sexual abuse/assault and employment discrimination against women, with over 80 movie clips from 1896 - 2020.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Nina Menkes
CAST:  Rosanna Arquette  •  Penelope Spheeris  •  Catherine Hardwicke  •  Nina Menkes

The Eye of the Beholder (2005)

A series of interviews about the film Peeping Tom (1960). It includes a rare interview with Karlheinz Böhm talking about his role and its subsequent effect on him.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Olivier Serrano
CAST:  Ian Christie  •  Martin Scorsese  •  Karlheinz Böhm  •  Thelma Schoonmaker

A series of interviews about the film Peeping Tom (1960). It includes a rare interview with Karlheinz Böhm talking about his role and its subsequent effect on him.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Olivier Serrano
CAST:  Ian Christie  •  Martin Scorsese  •  Karlheinz Böhm  •  Thelma Schoonmaker

Angel in the House (1978)

Inspired by Virginia Woolf, a young writer worries that marriage will hinder her literary ambitions. The film includes extracts from Virginia Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse and her essay Professions for Women, both read by feminist filmmaker and theorist Laura Mulvey.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jane Jackson
CAST:  Mary Maddox  •  Jean Rimmer  •  Edmund Warwick  •  Maureen Bennett

Inspired by Virginia Woolf, a young writer worries that marriage will hinder her literary ambitions. The film includes extracts from Virginia Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse and her essay Professions for Women, both read by feminist filmmaker and theorist Laura Mulvey.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jane Jackson
CAST:  Mary Maddox  •  Jean Rimmer  •  Edmund Warwick  •  Maureen Bennett