'Menopause film is Yorkshire through and through'

A film highlighting the challenges faced by women during the menopause is "Yorkshire through and through", its star has said.

Leeds actress Gaynor Faye stars in Hot Flash, which follows Geri, a single mum trying to rebuild her life in her 40s while navigating menopausal symptoms.

Written and produced by Jan Birley, who grew up in Scarborough, Faye describes their partnership as "right time, right place, with two women going through the same thing".

"It's really great for shows like this to make people feel visible, to make people feel seen - I'm really passionate about that, and that's another reason I wanted to do this," she says.

"We're two Yorkshire women, with a very similar sense of humour, very similar emotions - it was a no-brainer for me."

Faye says the film will be "exactly what is needed" to improve the presence of older women and their stories on the big screen.

"There's not enough representation out there; every woman suffers to some sort of degree with menopausal symptoms, or if they don't [they're] very lucky - I'm jealous.

"But they will know somebody; everybody knows somebody going through, or who will go through, the menopause."

She says the film, which also stars Samuel Anderson, known for his roles in the BBC's Amandaland and Shetland, has a thread of humour running throughout.

"Jan has written this incredible character - she's a single mum, she's a failed hairdresser, she's grasping at life and she's deeply in the menopause.

"If you deal with things through humour, you can make it more understandable and digestible for the audience and that's what Jan has done so brilliantly."

Birley says she first started working on the script about three years ago, and had originally featured a much younger female character.

"I think if I'd carried on in that vein, I don't think the film would have gathered as much impetus as it has," she explains.

"Everybody says when I tell them about the film: 'you're writing about my life'."

Filming got under way on Monday - with the entire shoot taking place in Yorkshire.

Birley moved to Scarborough when she was two years old, and considers herself "a proper Yorkshire lass".

Scenes will also be shot in Flamborough and Sewerby.

Faye, whose mother is actress and writer Kay Mellor, says she is "delighted" to see "God's own country" feature more prominently on screen in recent years.

"You know what - about time. My mum was championing Yorkshire for years and years," she says.

"[The film] is Yorkshire through and through - it's fantastic, and I'm so excited to be working in my home county."

She adds that it is "important to get films like this out there".

"It's a real blessing for me - celebrating women, celebrating Yorkshire, celebrating women of an age and having a laugh."

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