Marilyn Monroe: Self-Made Star

This summer’s major film season at the BFI is devoted to the dazzling career of one the most iconic women to ever grace a cinema screen.

Marilyn Monroe’s image has endured for generations, though she is often reduced to a sex symbol frozen in time, or a tragic figure with a focus on the scandals, marriages and troubles that punctuated her personal life. As this definitive two-month season shows, Marilyn Monroe’s achievements, legacy and contribution to cinema stretches so far beyond this reductive view.

She was a dynamic and intuitive performer who knew how to use her intelligence and physicality, as well as her style and carefully crafted image, as expressive instruments. She was also a determined and ambitious creative who revolutionised the promotion machine, challenged the studio system and became the first woman since the silent era to set up her own production company.

Be inspired by the craft, charisma and talent of this dazzling Hollywood star with a blockbuster programme of screenings that is packed with unforgettable, iconic movies.