Last week I was invited along to the Mondrian Screening Room for a special screening of a documentary film made by Flora Berkeley with Always Discreet. I didn’t really know what to expect but I had been told that it was about women’s health, breaking taboos and empowerment. As the mum of a feisty little girl and as a woman (obvs), it was something I was keen to get involved with. The older I get, the more I feel that the relationships I have with other women matter. We need the sisterhood and to know that our friends have our back so we can handle whatever life throws at us. I have an amazing group of friends who I believe I could talk to about everything and anything. Kids, work, sex, periods…what about if I was incontinent? According to our host 1 in 3 women suffer from adult incontinence, or AI as it’s also known. I was really surprised by that number because I don’t know that many women who suffer with symptoms of AI….at least I didn’t think so but a lot of women will keep something like this secret.
While we’ve become so open about many things, women are embarrassed to admit when they have AI. It’s not particularly glamourous after all, is it? But the number of women going to their doctor every day shows just how under-respresented this is and that’s why Always wanted to make this film, to show women that they aren’t alone. It’s not just about the products, although obviously they’re pretty proud of them, they want to start a conversation and for women to share their stories and empower one another. As you can imagine, something like this can really affect your day-to-day life. All the women involved with this film and with the product have such passion about the subject which was such a great thing to see.
I enjoyed the film and the setting within the Modrian Hotel was the perfect place for it. Although the subject matter is more on the serious side, there was a lot of laughter and chatter as we took our pick n mix and sat down to watch it. Flora is proud to make films with women and for women and feels like often notions of womanhood aren’t represented by real women. There was a real mix of ages and backgrounds in the film and I loved hearing their stories and getting the chance to meet Sandra and Jane, who both appear in the film. They are, not surprisingly, very proud of it and want to share their stories so that other women will feel like they can be open and honest and to show people that there’s no shame in it and what it’s like to live with AI. I thought the film was beautiful – you just can’t turn off the photographer in me! I think they should all be really proud of themselves.
After the film, there was a panel which included Anje who is part of the team at P&G and Asha from the charity Wellbeing of Women. I got to meet and chat with both of them afterwards and they are both very inspiring. Intelligent, funny and with such passion for what they do. It was lovely to meet them and so nice to see some friendly faces that I know already from blogging.
You can find out more and see the film on the Always Discreet site.
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