Made in Dagenham

I might as well warn anyone who might be getting the wrong idea straight away. There are no sex scenes in Made in Dagenham by British director Nigel Cole, who directed Calendar Girls in 2003. What there are, however, are women. Exactly 187 of them. Employed as car upholsterers at the Ford factory in Dagenham (in East London), they decided, one day in May 1968, to go on strike to secure the same wages as the 55,000 men at the factory. This is a true story, and these women’s strike led, two years later, to the passing of the Equal Pay Act. The film’s French title stems from a misunderstanding. During a demonstration, the strikers had unfurled a banner incorrectly. ‘We Want Sex Equality!’ read the slogan, except that only the first three words were visible. The image became a symbol and features in a delightful scene in the film, where the strikers marvel at the chorus of car horns greeting their demonstration. Before realising that the motorists’ raised thumbs are more suggestive than an expression of support for their cause."" (Sonia Delesalle-Stolper; liberation.fr)