Deirdre O’Neill

Working class lecturer and filmmaker Deirdre O’Neill discusses the possibility and potential of working class filmmaking today as she highlights her experiences in the British film industry and the eclipse of the working class behind and in front of the camera. Arguing that “class is not an identity,” O’Neill considers the relationship between the forces of production and the paucity of analysis today amidst the myriad identities fighting for their visibility while class is entirely eclipsed from the debate. Criticising feminism and identity politics noting the damage they have inflicted on class politics, O’Neill debates the effects of the open letter she co-authored with Julian Vigo directed at the British Film Institute’s platforming of Munroe Bergdorf during its Woman with a Movie Camera summit noting that Bergdorf is neither a woman nor a filmmaker. O’Neill details her work in cinema in the UK and in Venezuela noting the kinds of films that are made today, who has access to having their work produced, and the types of cinema that superficially addresses working class issues today.