Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska, Reader in Film Practice and Theory at the University of Bedfordshire, has participated in two public debates around the BFI's controversial Playing the Bitch season, which has been designed as a celebration of anti-heroines in film but has also been controversial for both its name and some of the programming decisions, including screening only films directed by men.

The first panel Dr Piotrowska contributed to was The Hot Take: The B Word where she discussed The Beauty and the Bitch: from patriarchal denigration to the empowering anger. This week she took part in the debate on The Luxury of being Difficult.  During the workshop the public and the panel reflected on the anti-heroines, and asked who is allowed to be difficult, dislikeable and demanding on screen.

Dr Piotrowska said: “I was involved in the initial consultations with the group of feminist scholars who led a petition against the season. However, after long discussions with the BFI and further consultations with senior academic colleagues, I felt it was important to engage in this debate and talk across ‘the difference’ of views. 

“I believe passionately that a dialogue even when the parties disagree is of vital importance right now, in the academy and in our culture as a whole. In the event, the two debates were wonderful with very notable fellow panelists and I feel delighted and privileged to have been invited to be a part of the season.”

Speaking at the second debate on The Luxury of being Difficult, panel members were asked to explore how the issues of race, class and sexuality impacted on the portrayal of 'difficult' women on both big and small screen. Dr Piotrowska discussed her research on female authorship and showed some extracts from her practice research work too.

 Dr Piotrowska is the Course Leader for the MA/MSc Digital Film at the University of Bedfordshire and has worked extensively in sub Saharan Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe.  Her book the The Nasty Woman was published at the beginning of the year and her new volume on Femininity and Psychoanalysis has just been published, both by Routledge.