In a new initiative collaborating with the Cinema and Television History (CATH) Research Centre at De Montfort University, we are delighted to be hosting a series of five live Cine Sisters events, building on the success of the Cine Sisters symposium at The Women’s Library in London last year.

Our guests are five women with a wealth of experience of the film and television industries as actors and, in one case, as a music composer. The distinguished composer Debbie Wiseman (Wilde, London to Brighton etc.), in conversation with Sir Sidney Samuelson, opens the season, followed by Monty Python muse and seventh member Carol Cleveland, interviewed by Professor Steve Chibnall. In April, two actresses who began their careers in the British cinema of the 1950s take the stage: Sylvia Syms (Ice Cold in Alex, Victim, The Queen) and Vera Day (The Prince and the Showgirl, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). Amongst Vera’s memories will be that of working with Marilyn Monroe. The season closes with the legendary star of the Carry On films and BBC’s Eastenders Barbara Windsor, in conversation with composer, pianist and playwright Neil Brand.