Over 20 years before Kathryn Bigelow won the Oscar for Best Director, Sally Potter – the woman behind Orlando and Rage – made cinema history in 1983 with her first feature film The Gold Diggers.

Using an all-female cast and crew – all of whom received equal pay – the film was made for £250,000 and was a landmark in female filmmaking.

Radical and experimental, complete with dance numbers and songs performed by Potter herself, the story centres around a bank worker (Colette Laffont) who becomes obsessed by how money is circulated and traded, and the uncanny way it always ends up in the hands of powerful men. Her path converges with that of beautiful blonde, Ruby (Julie Christie) a film star who is herself an object trading on her beauty. Together they become a united front against bureaucracy and commodification.

As far as feminist-fantasy musicals go The Gold Diggers is in a category of its own making – for those in Glasgow this Thursday night there’s a rare chance to catch a big screen showing at the Centre for Contemporary Arts.

http://cca-glasgow.com

Tags: colette laffont, julie christie, sally potter, the gold diggers