Thursday 11 July 2013

The Battle of the Sexes


‘The Battle of the Sexes’ is a gripping documentary about the 1973 tennis match between Wimbledon champion Billie Jean King and the self-confessed “male chauvinist pig” Bobby Riggs ( New Black Films). King won the match, but the film is much more than just the record of a tennis match. It is the story of King’s fight for equality for women on the tennis courts, and in society in general. Tennis is now the only professional sport where women are paid equally, thanks to the tenacity of Billie Jean King.

I attended the Premier of the film several weeks ago with two of my students from the “Wembley to Soweto” project (Wembley to Soweto)


‘Wembley to Soweto’ began in 2010 during the South African World Cup, teaching young men and women from Soweto how to feed their families with their cameras. The project has since grown, working with young photographers in Newcastle, Cumbria, Brighton and most recently in London during the Olympics.
Samin Ahmadzadeh and Casey Newton, two students from the Olympic project, had the opportunity to work in a real-time situation, rubbing shoulders with London’s top press and news photographers at big celebrity event.



Plans are afoot to run “Wembley to Soweto” in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup. Stay tuned!