Category Archives: Film

Anglos, Diphthongs & Perfect Snogging: Saving the German A-level

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Samira Ahmed

This piece was written for The Guardian in August 2012, after A-level results showed the number of UK students taking German had declined to below 5,000 for the first time. There were also significant drops in French and other modern … Continue reading →

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No Mr Bond, I expect you to cry.

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Samira Ahmed

This column (updated since it appeared in The Big Issue last week) explores whether old James Bond films can still be enjoyed in a more feminist, more racially equal society. And then Danny Boyle put him at the heart of … Continue reading →

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Call Me Sir: Ben Kingsley, Fifty Shades of Gray and Victorian erotica

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Samira Ahmed

A tech journalist once told me that if watching tv on your mobile phone was such a great idea, loads of people would have been walking around with a primitive giant tv on their brick sized phones long ago. By … Continue reading →

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Casablanca: When refugees were glamorous

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Samira Ahmed

This was written for the Spectator Coffee House blog, ahead of the Casablanca night at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum on June 22nd, to mark Refugee Week.  “I don’t buy and sell human beings,” says Rick to the rival club … Continue reading →

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Aliens, abortion and baby machines: HG Wells & John Wyndham

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Samira Ahmed

Woman’s Hour ran a fascinating interview today with novelist Kishwar Desai, about India’s burgeoning  surrogate baby industry. Her exploration of this massive business (an estimated 20,000 babies produced  each year) seems to differ from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale only … Continue reading →

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The Fantasies of Youth

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Samira Ahmed

Every generation has its teen moral panic exploitation movie. In the 1930s it was Reefer Madness. In the 50s it was Beat Girl (the evils of Soho coffee bars and bongos). For my generation it was 1982’s Mazes and Monsters … Continue reading →

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A Smashing Time: Murray Melvin on busting taboos in the 60s

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Samira Ahmed

For the third of my One to Ones for Radio 4 I wanted a Missing Angle on the golden age of British theatre and cinema — from the late 50s to the early 70s. You can listen to it here. … Continue reading →

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Can we laugh about this? Race on film

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Samira Ahmed

I spent an hour with the Film Club charity in Battersea Park School in South London today,(I’m a trustee) discussing the treatment of race and racism on film. It was Anti-Racism Day, apparently. I chose clips from a sample of … Continue reading →

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Women and the Arab Spring

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Samira Ahmed

Here are some good links on the speakers at the Women Of The World (WOW) Arab Spring panel discussion 3pm Saturday March 10th it the Purcell Room in London’s Southbank Centre. I’m chairing.  Whether you are coming or not, the … Continue reading →

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Raise your kids the David Bowie way

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Samira Ahmed

As a child David Bowie frightened me. I mean, really frightened me. The lyrics to Space Oddity, overheard on the radio,  left me in existential torment for the lingering death of Major Tom. Then there were those creepy emaciated illustrations on his 70s album … Continue reading →

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