Marie claire: Your film Misbehaviour is about the 1970 Miss World pageant and the women’s liberation protestors who disrupted the ceremony. Why now? Why did you want to tell this story in 2020?
Philippa Lowthorpe: Well, it’s the 50th anniversary, and it’s a brilliant time to look back on what has been achieved and what has still yet to be achieved. It’s celebrating what those women did and also thinking, “My goodness, we’ve still got a long way to go.” The other thing that I really loved about this story was it didn’t just concentrate on the women’s liberation movement women, who are amazing. It was more complicated than that and it wanted to look at the contestants, because 1970 was the year that the first Black woman won Miss World, and the first Black South African woman was allowed to enter Miss World.
MC: What I really appreciated about Misbehaviour was how it gave space to the Black women in the story, which is something we’re still not seeing a lot of in films. Why was that important to you?
PL: This film had to be a celebration of all women, not just the women’s liberation movement. The very fact that women had to enter a beauty contest to make something of themselves says so much. For some women in the world, that was a way of getting out of wherever they lived and doing something interesting; that was very important, we mustn’t denigrate that at all. And the fact that this was the first time a Black woman was honoured for her beauty was very, very important. And Jennifer Hosten is an amazing person, she’s an incredibly intelligent and talented person, no less so than [those in] women’s liberation. Together, it seemed to me that these women told a kind of global story.
This story is from the October 2020 edition of Marie Claire Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 2020 edition of Marie Claire Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
WHY WOMEN SHOULDN'T BE DISCOUNTED
Four game-changing women share why they want economic empowerment included in the conversation this International Women’s Day
home HAVEN
Sophie Bell, founder of Peppa Hart, invites us into her calming quarters, writes Samantha Stewart
BEHIND THE SCENES with PETER PHILIPS
An intimate backstage moment with the legendary creative and image director for Dior Makeup
MIAH MADDEN
The Australian actor on her biggest fashion crime, party tricks and the women who have shaped her
TAYLOR SWIFT
As she hits our shores in February, music writer Cameron Adams charts the unbelievable career of the world’s biggest music artist, from her Nashville country music roots to her record-smashing Eras tour
The road to NIRVANA
Editor Georgie Abay lands in the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan for the adventure of a lifetime
makes SUN sense
What if we saw a suntan for what it really is: a visible sign that skin has been damaged? Sherine Youssef looks behind the golden facade
RUNWAY to DEBT
Modelling agencies are ecruiting young people who have fled war-torn African countries and are living in extreme poverty. They are flown to Europe to take part n fashion castings, but some return within days or weeks, often laden with debt
CALLUM TURNER
The British actor shares tales from the front line, why you should play your heroes and his love for Free Willy
ALL ABOUT JESS
Chart-topping Australian singer Jessica Mauboy talks love, lonliness and music legend Whitney Houston on the eve of her new release, Yours Forever