Bad Table Manners is a UK-based film production company that focuses on stories told by people from such underrepresented groups as refugees, non-binary/transgender people, sex workers and formerly incarcerated individuals. Bad Table Manners has always been a place for collaboration and equal involvement. It operates with principles of inclusivity, openness, honesty, bravery, commitment and ultimate curiosity. It aims to challenge biased narratives and question one-sided interpretations of complex narratives. We strongly believe that every story has multiple sides, and the best story anyone can tell - is their own. 

 

If you would like to get involved, please don't hesitate to contact us.

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Members: 

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Ira Putilova is a non-binary Russian filmmaker, director and editor living and working in London. Born and raised in Russia, Ira was for many years a member of several Russian art-activist groups and directed films that condemned state crimes, police brutality and violence against queer people. Ira was forced to flee persecution by Russian authorities and claim political asylum in the UK in 2013. Since then, they have studied for an MA in Filmmaking at the London Film School and continued to both direct and edit a body of work that explores themes of - among others - gender, poverty, migration, belonging and queerness.

 

Ira was selected to participate in Grierson DocLab’s Editing Scheme and has worked as assistant editor and editor on high-end Netflix, Channel 4, ITV, and Sky documentaries. Ira worked on  CHERNOBYL: THE LOST TAPES as assistant editor which won several BAFTAs this year, whilst LOVE LANGUAGES, a Netflix short film that Ira co-edited, was long-listed for a BAFTA, also in 2023.

 

Alongside their debut documentary feature LOOK AT ME AND THEN UP, Ira is currently directing SECTION CIS, a film about people in the non-binary and transgender squatting community of London and a short documentary about members of a queer Muay Thai club in East London, which won the  2023 Iris Prize.