Women in silent comedy: The witty women stars, directors and writers of silent film [audio 9min]

"No comedienne ever became a truly important film clown," according to film historian Walter Kerr. But next week, Birds Eye View, the charity that champions women filmmakers, are throwing a custard pie in the face of this kind of thinking in Clowning Glories and Screwball Women, a season of silent films to celebrate and honour the unsung heroines of comic film. Stars included Mary Pickford, Mabel Normand, Ossi Oswalda and Marion Davies, playing diverse roles from clowns to 'It' girls and feisty heroines. Pioneering directors like Alice Guy, Florence Turner and Dorothy Arzner were also highly active during cinema's first decades, and writers included the brilliantly acerbic Anita Loos. Presenter Jane Garvey talks to curators Kelly Robinson and Ingrid Stigsdotter, about the films and the often scandalous lives of their comic female stars, and explores whether the roles available to women, in front of or behind the camera, were different before the coming of sound. Clowning Glories and Screwball Women is part of Birds Eye View Film Festival, running at London cinemas 6-14 March 2008.