Ladies Hoo Doo

Knitting comes in handy when making a film – a comical take on amateur filmmaking by the ladies of a local Pinner film club

Tea, shortbread and knitting are central features in this humorous, self-reflexive amateur film produced by women filmmakers in mid-1960s London. The ‘ladies who do’ poke fun at stereotypes as they set to work on two short films, including scenes of the women gathering round the dining table to allocate roles and the director Vera merrily knitting whilst location shooting outside Northwood underground station.

By the 1960s, amateur filmmaking had become a popular hobby and numerous clubs were located across the country. This film offers a rare glimpse of amateur practices and undercuts the notion that filmmaking was solely a male preserve. Contemporary camera and projection equipment are foregrounded in exterior and domestic settings that also show Pinner and classic fashions and design. In one montage the women club together pounds, shillings and pence before taking the film to the local chemist for processing. The film was made by the Pinner Cine Society; set up in 1951 it is now the Harrow Film Makers.