A Film Without Its Heroine

Edith's costume opened the film. Nina's childcare ledger supplied its rhythm. Women contradicted one another about marriage, ambition, motherhood and regret. No single narrator made them tidy.

Celia watched the rough cut and felt displaced.

"Good," Rowan said. "It isn't your redemption video."

Buried in background footage from a donor reception, Farah spoke to museum trustee Howard Bell.

"Once we own the interviews, the Marlowe can become the Bell Centre," she said. "Celia will bring the women across."

The museum's funding offer had never been preservation alone. Farah had promised the cinema's identity before acquiring it.

Rowan paused the frame. "Do we use this?"

"Not without consent from everyone visible."

Rowan smiled faintly. Celia had finally given the answer the film required.