Margaret
Film, 2023
Through role-playing, Tracy Satchwill delves into a 1960s housewife's thoughts and feelings to understand their worries, boredom, repetition and frustrations. From this process and the artist’s research, she creates the film, Margaret, a fictional story, inspired by interviews with local women, national and regional publications and interviews from the book Housewife, by sociologist Ann Oakley. Drawing from her own experiences, the artist also considers the power structures that affect a woman from the era.
The film is set in a realistic 1960s sitting room, where the story moves from chores that need doing to thoughts on women's lib, providing a snapshot of women’s history. The film was shot on location at North Lincolnshire Museum, with the artist playing the role of Margaret. The location shots were combined with AI avatars and animations of dream worlds to convey the housewife's escapism.
The film was commissioned by the North Lincolnshire Museum and received an honourable mention from the Experimental Forum for its unique vision and contribution to cinema.
