Joan Ashworth

Mushroom Thief

Swimming through a meadow collecting mushrooms, a girl meets her wildness in the form of a hare. Bang! They are shot. They tumble into the earth. The girl wrestles with her wildness to subdue him and to pay for her mushrooms.

Mushroom Thief

Swimming through a meadow collecting mushrooms, a girl meets her wildness in the form of a hare. Bang! They are shot. They tumble into the earth. The girl wrestles with her wildness to subdue him and to pay for her mushrooms.

How Mermaids Breed

Although Mermaids have been traditional symbols of fertility and a sexuality so powerful as to be a danger to shipping, details of their reproductive processes have been scarce. The film reveals the cycle of laying, fertilising and hatching as well as the previously secret role of storm-wrecked sailors.

How Mermaids Breed

Although Mermaids have been traditional symbols of fertility and a sexuality so powerful as to be a danger to shipping, details of their reproductive processes have been scarce. The film reveals the cycle of laying, fertilising and hatching as well as the previously secret role of storm-wrecked sailors.

Eggs, Fish and Blood

A short experimental film about the sensations of pregnancy. Mainly scratched directly onto 35mm. Screened at Hamburg Short Film Festival, Bradford Animation Festival. Also screened throughout England as part of Vox Pop Puella, a touring show about the seven ages of women.

The Swashbuckling in the Palace

Christmas idents from mid-90s directed by Joan Ashworth for the BBC. Transmitted in separate parts, but released on YouTube as a whole. Won a BAFTA.

On the Record

Titles, a crocodile crossed with Big Ben roams the UK.

Womanwords

Titles for a Channel 4 project that didn't get aired. Released later on YouTube.

The Web

Dark gothic puppet animation based on a section of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy, Titus Groan.

When the Wind Blows

With the help of government-issued pamphlets, an elderly British couple build a shelter and prepare for an impending nuclear attack, unaware that times and the nature of war have changed from their romantic memories of World War II.

Dreamless Sleep

Silently conveys a couple's fear of an immanent nuclear blast. Part of Sweet Disaster; a 1986 series of short films made for Channel 4. It consists of “animated visions of the apocalypse”.