Screen Bandita emerged in 2007 in an attempt to draw attention to female directors, artists and and practitioners whose work remains relatively undiscovered and obscure, or criminally underrated, either within popular culture or the canon of film history. We wanted to create a lively space to view and discuss these works whilst also addressing the gender imbalance prevalent within the film world.

As such, we have previously screened the dreamlike meditations of Maya Deren, work by Edinburgh/Orkadian artist and poet Margaret Tait and even early shorts by some of our favorite contemporary female filmmakers; Lynne Ramsay, Andrea Arnold and Jane Campion.

However, fast- forward to 2010, by which time Screen Bandita has expanded its remit and re-focused its energies in order to harness the groups collective love of outdated film technology and found footage, and to provide a context where these snapshots of forgotten moments can be exposed to a new audience.
Taking this remit as a starting point, the Banditas specialize in staging thematic events showcasing various combinations of 8mm and 16mm film, slide/ image projections that are shown alongside specially curated soundtracks developed in collaboration with poets and musicians or churned out from two ancient gramophones!