YEAR
2025

RUN TIME
68 minutes

SYNOPSIS
3000 Lesbians Go To York tells the extraordinary true story of how a lesbian bookseller created the largest gathering of LGBTQ+ women in the UK; and how, from 1998 to 2008, the quietly conservative city of York became the unlikely centre of all things lesbian.

For one thrilling decade, thousands of women flocked to the York Lesbian Arts Festival each autumn, to meet their favourite authors, buy books, hear top female artists live on stage and dance the night away at the ‘disco of a thousand lesbians.’

Looking through the festival programmes is like taking a tour of lesbian culture in the Noughties: Val McDermid, Sarah Waters, Sandi Toksvig, Stella Duffy, Sue Perkins, Rhona Cameron and Horse, to name but a few, all appeared at YLAF in those fabulous days.

3000 Lesbians Go To York captures this important piece of queer women’s history through intertwining an array of fascinating interviews, archive footage, photographs and music!

CREDITS
Interviewer & Co-Producer – Jane Traies
Director & Co-Producer – Rachel Dax
Production Manager & Co-Producer – Kate O’Dwyer
Editor – Bonnie Rae Brickman
Cinematographers – Victoria M. Morton & Jack Davies

Rachel Dax Biography
Rachel Dax is a University Lecturer, a Writer-Director-Producer of Film and Audio Drama, and a Novelist.  
  
Her film Time & Again (2019) starring Dame Siân Phillips & Brigit Forsyth screened at over 65 festivals and won 15 awards, including the Audience Award at OUTFEST LA, where it was shown in Grauman’s Chinese Theatres, Hollywood. It was then broadcast by both BBC Wales and BBC Four. During the 2020 lockdown, Rachel wrote In Isolation – A Short Book Of Long Monologues and went on to produce and direct all four pieces as hour-long audio-dramas, including Footballer’s Wife (2023) starring acclaimed UK actress Ruth Madoc.  
 
In September 2024, she released her first feature length documentary Greer Ralston – Giving It All To Art. This intimate portrait of a figurative artist is now showing at select cinemas and festivals across the world. Her latest project 3000 Lesbians Go To York (2025) is a collaborative feature length documentary, which she co-produced and directed, telling the story of the biggest and longest running Lesbian Arts Festival in the UK. 
 
Rachel is author of the lesbian historical love story After The Night and the genderqueer historical trilogy The Legend Of Pope Joan. She is also the founder and curator of LezDiff – Cardiff International Lesbian Film & Arts Festival.  
  
Bonnie Rae Brickman Biography
Bonnie Rae Brickman is a New York-born, London-based Film+TV Editor with over twenty-five years’ experience, accumulating a diverse and extensive list of credits across documentary and narrative fiction. 
 
Honoured with four New York Area Emmy Award Certificates during her ten years at WNET/thirteen, PBS’ flagship station in NYC, and Highly Commended at Underwire’s In The Cut: Best Editor Award for BOOTWMN, Bonnie’s work has screened on US, UK, Australian and Canadian television and at film festivals worldwide including Clermont-Ferrand, HotDocs, Open City Doc Fest, London Short Film Festival, Frameline, Outfest, and BFI Flare.  
 
Alongside her editing work, she has taught editing and post-production at SUNY/Oswego, University of West London, and on the Ethnographic & Documentary Film MA programme at UCL.

Jane Traies Biography
Jane Traies is a writer, researcher and story-teller who works to uncover the hidden histories of marginalised women. Her best-seller Now You See Me is a collection of older lesbian life stories: her second life-history collection, Free to Be Me, captures the stories of a group of lesbian and bisexual women seeking asylum in the UK. Writing jointly with Jacky Bratton, Jane is also half of the sapphic historical novelist Jay Taverner. Their latest title, Liberty, is the fourth adventure in the ‘Brynsquilver’ series.

The York Lesbian Arts Festival, which is the subject of 3000 Lesbians Go To York, holds personal significance for Jane as she was closely associated with it for several years. Originally, she appeared there as a writer, but later joined the organising committee and was for a short time the Festival Events Manager (‘FEM’ for short…).
Jane is always looking for new ways to make hidden histories heard and seen.

3000 Lesbians Go To York is her first film. Jane’s book by the same name was released in February 2025.

Kate O’Dwyer Biography
Kate O’Dwyer has over 20 years of experience in accounting and administration for creative agencies and large corporations.

She started to unleash her passion to make film during various film and production courses, and film festivals. She was exposed to film sets whilst working as a Financial Controller at a Film studio & Production company in London, where she oversaw budgets for the film company that produced & hosted TV shows, advertisements, scenes for feature films, online content and music videos.

She enjoys being around busy films sets, crunching the numbers and working with fellow creatives. 3000 Lesbians Go To York is her first feature film as a Production Manager and Co-Producer.

PLEASE NOTE
This free film screening will take place in the Town Hall of Skala Eressos, behind and above Antonis Restaurant. The Town Hall has limited seats and is not wheelchair accessible. We recommend arriving early to secure your spot, as seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.