Preview: Bird's-Eye View, Various Venues, London

Now in its third year, the Bird's-Eye View film festival showcases the work of women directors from all over the world. "I passionately believe it matters who makes films," says Rachel Millward, co-founder of the festival. "I am bothered by the fact that only 7 per cent of film directors are women and 12 per cent of screenwriters are women.

"The majority of the stories that we are getting on screen are from the male perspective. They may be great - but that to me is not balanced. I wanted to create a cultural space where women are having the creative vision."

Films this year include the debut feature from the Canadian actress Sarah Polley, an art house favourite in films including The Sweet Hereafter, Go and My Life Without Me. Polley's Away from Her stars Julie Christie as a woman with Alzheimer's, whose marriage is threatened when she falls for another man.

Tilda Swinton stars in Hilary Brougher's Stephanie Daley as a forensic psychologist whose patient is in denial over the death of her baby. The Italian director Cristina Comencini's Oscar-nominated drama Don't Tell investigates sexuality and personal grief; Ecoute Le Temps is a thriller by the French director Alante Alfandari; and Molly's Way, by the German director Emily Atef, follows the consequences of a young Irish woman's one-night stand.

Meanwhile, the US photographer Laurie Simmons' 40-minute film The Music of Regret stars Meryl Streep singing love songs with a ventriloquist dummy, and artist Gillian Wearing's film installation Family History explores the boundary between fine art and film.

Screenings of features and shorts by women from developing countries include the Iranian director Ensieh Shah Hosseini's debut Goodbye Life, about the sole Iranian female reporter in the war zone. "Films from developing countries show true diversity," says Millward, "because we [in the West] tend to keep making the same films, rather than exploring the infinite possibilities that there are."

Thursday to 14 March (www.birds-eye-view.co.uk)