Directing

Laura Mulvey

Born August 15, 1941 (age 85)

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",…

Known For

The Bad Sister

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 sets out on dreamlike journeys in search of freedom and revenge.

Home Movies 1971-81

Home Movies 1971-81 · 1985

Home Movies 1971-81

MovieDocumentary

Home movies shot on Super 8mm by W+B Hein over 10 years.

Crystal Gazing

Crystal Gazing · 1982

Experimental drama set in London during the Thatcher administration involving four characters: Neil, a science-fiction illustrator; Kim, a woman rock musician; Vermilion, an analyst of satellite photography; and Julian, an old friend of the illustrator who has just finished his Ph.D thesis on the fairy-tales of Charles Perrault. Their four lives are closely interlinked as events happen to each of them.

Riddles of the Sphinx

Riddles of the Sphinx · 1977

Riddles of the Sphinx

In this avant-garde classic, protagonist Louise deals with a change in her lifestyle in which she must learn to negotiate domestic life and motherhood.

The Mark of Lilith

The Mark of Lilith · 1986

The Mark of Lilith

MovieRomanceHorror

A white bisexual female vampire, trapped in a relationship with a misogynistic male vampire, encounters a worldly black lesbian who helps her achieve enlightenment.

Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons

Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons · 1974

Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons

MovieDocumentaryDrama

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 from male phantasy? The film explores the complexities of such questions, but does not seek any concrete answers.

Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti

Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti · 1983

Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti

MovieDocumentary

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 Mexican Revolution.

Angel in the House

Angel in the House · 1978

Angel in the House

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.

Filmography

Sort

The Bad Sister

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 sets out on dreamlike journeys in search of freedom and revenge.

Director

Home Movies 1971-81

Home Movies 1971-81 · 1985

Home Movies 1971-81

MovieDocumentary

Home movies shot on Super 8mm by W+B Hein over 10 years.

Crystal Gazing

Crystal Gazing · 1982

Experimental drama set in London during the Thatcher administration involving four characters: Neil, a science-fiction illustrator; Kim, a woman rock musician; Vermilion, an analyst of satellite photography; and Julian, an old friend of the illustrator who has just finished his Ph.D thesis on the fairy-tales of Charles Perrault. Their four lives are closely interlinked as events happen to each of them.

Director

Riddles of the Sphinx

Riddles of the Sphinx · 1977

Riddles of the Sphinx

In this avant-garde classic, protagonist Louise deals with a change in her lifestyle in which she must learn to negotiate domestic life and motherhood.

Director

The Mark of Lilith

The Mark of Lilith · 1986

The Mark of Lilith

MovieRomanceHorror

A white bisexual female vampire, trapped in a relationship with a misogynistic male vampire, encounters a worldly black lesbian who helps her achieve enlightenment.

Thanks

Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons

Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons · 1974

Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons

MovieDocumentaryDrama

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 from male phantasy? The film explores the complexities of such questions, but does not seek any concrete answers.

Director

Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti

Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti · 1983

Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti

MovieDocumentary

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 Mexican Revolution.

Director

Angel in the House

Angel in the House · 1978

Angel in the House

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.

Extracts of Virginia Woolf

Disgraced Monuments

Disgraced Monuments · 1994

Disgraced Monuments

MovieDocumentary

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 communism. Mulvey and Lewis highlight both the social relevance of these relics and the cyclical nature of history. Broadcast on Channel Four as part of the 'Global Image' series (1992-1994).

Director

Amy!

MovieDocumentary

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 groups on the subject of heroism in this most unconventional biopic.

Director

I Learned an Awful Lot in Little Rock

I Learned an Awful Lot in Little Rock · 2024

I Learned an Awful Lot in Little Rock

Retiring [in]Transition founding co-editor Catherine Grant reflects on her curation of Laura Mulvey’s remix of a sequence from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) in the opening editorial of our journal’s inaugural issue in 2014. Here she presents a new videographic study of this remix that she made in collaboration with Mulvey herself in 2024.

Director