Women stage protest at Suffragette premiere

The protesters chanted “cuts kill” and “dead women can’t vote”.

Over 100 female protesters stormed the London premiere of Suffragette on Wednesday. A few were dragged away by security guards, while green and purple smoke bombs went off nearby.

Stars of the film were taken by surprise as real life scenes echoed the film when a group of protesters jumped the barriers and lay down on the red carpet.

Lauren Laverne, whose red carpet interviews were disrupted by Sisters Uncut’s peaceful protest, was fully on board with the cause.

Janelle Brown, spokeswoman for Sisters Uncut, told the BBC: “We came to the Suffragette premiere today because the struggle is definitely not over”.

She said: “I’m glad our film has done something”.

No one from the film, that opened the BFI London Film Festival and is set for a USA release later this month, was immediately available to comment about the protest.

Suffragette tells the story of early members of the British women’s suffrage movement in the late 19th and early century, with Mulligan as Maud Watts, Bonham Carter as Edith Ellyn and Meryl Streep as luminary Emmeline Pankhurst. “It has been read by at least half a million people in the United Kingdom and we have received no complaints”.

WILL OLIVER/EPA Romola Garai, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Marie Duff and Carey Mulligan (left to right) are among the stars in “Suffragette”. Yes, a LOAD of stuff is a lot better than it used to be, and we should be incredibly grateful for everything the women – the ones showed in the film, and all the ones who aren’t – of the past have achieved for us.

Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep, who plays British suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst, has said it is “infuriating” that the film-making industry continues to be male-dominated. She found that of the critics are allowed to rate on the tomato meter there are 168 women, against 760 men.

A few protestors, like Latifa pointed out that the film didnt represent women of colour, stating: ‘Its timely because the cast of the film is entirely white and they are running with this slogan, ‘Id rather be a rebel than a slave which implies passivity or acceptance of being a slave. It centers on a group of women in England who are forced underground as they fight for the right to vote.