Toxic masculinity and men’s violence against women explored in new film festival

Toxic masculinity and violence against women are to be explored in a new film festival conceived by two Scottish charities.

CinemaAttic and Zero Tolerance have teamed up to present LADS: Toxic Masculinity, a mini film festival featuring ten award-winning international short films available to stream online from April 9-16.

The films seek to broaden the public’s understanding of the cause of violence against women and to help men unpack problematic aspects of manhood.

“We need new male referents, new ways of understanding masculinity and pedagogy to overcome the gender divide, and we hope these films can make a positive contribution to the current debate,” said Edinburgh-based arts organisation CinemaAttic.

In this selection of films CinemaAttic and Zero Tolerance seek to delve into manhood in the 21st century, hoping to leave ill-conceived ideas of “what it is to be a man” behind.

The term “toxic masculinity” has become more widely used recently but the festival seeks to unpack what do we mean when we actually use the phrase.

In particular, these films look at the tension between the individual experience of masculinity and group (or gang) masculinity, where anger, dominance and violence are often the only emotions reinforced.

Although not a new phenomena – feminist networks like Reclaim the Night, Sisters Uncut, Women’s Aid, Zero Tolerance or Reclaim These Streets (and many more) have been campaigning to end men’s violence against women for many years – levels of men’s violence against women are rising, so the festival comes at an important time.

“Men’s violence against women is endemic, but not inevitable. We hope that this film festival’s exploration of toxic masculinity will spur essential discussions about gender norms and gender inequality, which is the root cause of violence against women,” said Zero Tolerance

The films offer monstrous, pathetic, and empathetic encounters with men around the world, including stories taking place in Yorkshire, Edinburgh, Spain, Philippines, Chile, Argentina or El Salvador.

The films include Berlinale’s Silver Bear winner In the The Name of the Son by Martina Matzkin and films awarded in some of the most prestigious film festivals in the world including Amsterdam’s IDFA, Clermont-Ferrand, Locarno Film Festival, Canada’s HotDocs, or IndieLisboa.

To make the event more accessible to a wider public, CinemaAttic and Zero Tolerance have introduced a Pay-What-You-Can ticketing system.

Proceeds from the online screening of LADS: Toxic Masculinity will be donated to Zero Tolerance and Scottish Women’s Aid.

For more information on the full programme visit cinemaattic.com/event/lads-toxic-masculinity