MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library



    Hidden in Plain Sight: Attending to Women’s Amateur Filmmaking Histories at the Irish Film Archive


    Arnold, Sarah and Madden, Carolann (2024) Hidden in Plain Sight: Attending to Women’s Amateur Filmmaking Histories at the Irish Film Archive. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 44 (2). pp. 300-318. ISSN 0143-9685

    [thumbnail of Hidden in Plain Sight  Attending to Women s Amateur Filmmaking Histories at the Irish Film Archive.pdf]
    Preview
    Text
    Hidden in Plain Sight Attending to Women s Amateur Filmmaking Histories at the Irish Film Archive.pdf
    Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike.

    Download (746kB) | Preview

    Abstract

    This article aims to identify various ways in which women’s amateur filmmaking becomes obscured in both film archives and in the academic scholarship on film and filmmaking. Recognising that amateur film is marginalised and undervalued in relation to commercial and professional filmmaking, the article uses the case study of one Irish amateur filmmaker to identify the processes and practices that have resulted in her work being obscured and overlooked. The filmmaker, Sr Maureen MacMahon, was practicing amateur filmmaking from the 1960s to the 1970s and her work is held at the Irish Film Archive. Investigation of Sr Maureen’s filmmaking drew from a variety of sources including the films and film materials, film metadata recorded at the archive, newspaper archives, an archive held at Sr Maureen’s religious order and an interview with Sr Maureen. Analyses of these materials has resulted in three findings: firstly, the dispersal of materials and information pertaining to Sr Maureen across multiple sites posed challenges for our construction of a coherent narrative about her; secondly, Sr Maureen turned her hand to many creative and pedagogic activities beyond filmmaking, and, in her own estimation, she was an arts educator more than a filmmaker; and, finally, the films are not easily categorised as they are generically and stylistically diverse, making auteurist approaches difficult. Drawing from these findings we discuss the challenges that this creates for foregrounding women’s contributions to film.
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Women’s Amateur Filmmaking; Histories; Irish Film Archive;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > School of English, Media & Theatre Studies > Media Studies
    Item ID: 19615
    Identification Number: 10.1080/01439685.2023.2296233
    Depositing User: Sarah Arnold
    Date Deposited: 27 Mar 2025 11:39
    Journal or Publication Title: Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television
    Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
    Refereed: Yes
    Related URLs:
    URI: https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/19615
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

    Repository Staff Only (login required)

    Item control page
    Item control page

    Downloads

    Downloads per month over past year

    Origin of downloads