Compte-rendu – atelier du 15/12/2019 – Les Arcs Film Festival

Participant·e·s

Charlotte APPELGREN, General Secretary – Cine Regio

Jenni DOMINGO, International Promotion Coordinator / Features — Finnish Film Foundation

Myriam GAST, Policy officer – Cinema Support Fund – Région Ile-de-France

Céline HADDAD, Project Manager – Screen Ireland

Eda KOPPEL, Head Of Marketing – Estonian Film Institute

Anne LAURENT-DELAGE, Deputy Director – AFC Austrian Films

Dita RIETUMA, Director Of National Film – The National Film Center of Latvia

Edith SEPP, CEO – Estonian Film Institute

Observateur·rice·s

Claire BAUCHART, Journalist – ELLE magazine

Guillaume CALOP, Co-founder of the Lab and General Manager of Les Arcs Film Festival

Véronique VATINOS, head of the celebrities department at ELLE magazine

Lune BOURGOGNE, Assistant, Lab – Femmes de cinéma

Emma PAGÈS, Assistant, Lab – Femmes de cinéma

Animateur·rice·s

Fabienne Silvestre-Bertoncini, Co-Fondatrice du Lab et des Arcs Film Festival ; coach

Through the testimony…

• Convincing people with money that diversity is more than profitable – not just a noble thing – is still needed. In fact, half of the spectators are women, and it appears that they go more to cinema than men. This way, if a movie is made by a woman, it will certainly be watched in movie theaters.
• Male stories are still more common than female ones. We know that this fact is linked with the historical development of the film business. However, today, this is something that really needs to change.
• Some countries where parity is much more natural. In fact, Northern countries are much more in advance toward parity and equality than the rest of the European ones. Parity does exist both in committees and on shootings and it seems like they won’t have to create gender policy or gender equality programs to maintain it. Another country in advance for parity is Australia, which is very careful concerning good gender policies in film institutes.
• A true problem of confidence – a need to turn up the women’s confidence. On this point, getting them – to connect and to introduce themselves to each other in this industry could help to actually make them much more confident.
• A lack of communication and knowledge about what can be done. It already exists numerous actions and ideas about a better European cooperation on gender equity in cinema. However, information stays scattered and not concrete enough.
• When it comes to raise big funds, women are instantly underrepresented. In fact, when the budget is under 3 million dollars, there is as much women than men applying for funding. Yet, when the budget is bigger, women suddenly disappear.
• Money is power and we need to work on money. It is absolutely essential that women producers became more and more, given that producers are the ones with money and choosing the projects. In this respect, when big producing companies are led by women, directly much more female projects are produced.
• The big problem is not quality, but application. In reality, not many women applied for funding while they should. And when they actually do, they are too easily rejected.
• The question of education is capital. The way people raise their children is one of the basics on this question. Added to this, the advertising problem, that is still very stereotypical and which continues to spread stereotypes in our society.
• Many festivals’ programmers are men – the bigger a festival is, the surer its programmer is a man. It is important to pay more attention to the gender of those who make festival programs. Unfortunately, even when women are programmers, the decision-maker is too often a male – this needs to evolute.
• In cinema, some women are afraid of feminism. In other words, women seem much more militants in other sectors than in cinema. Moreover, in this industry, some women don’t dare to take advantage of the discrimination they suffer.

What concrete ideas or plans could we imagine together – between festivals, Film Department and Institutions, in the idea for a greater European efficiency for gender equity in cinema?

• The European Film Promotion (EFP) : could be a platform where everyone can circulate the information – a website like « Women Leaders in Film » by the NFSA in Australia.
• Mapping : there are so many different pan-European associations – Having only one paper with all the associations : a kind of a platform that gathers all the experiences for a better coordination.
• Create a global inclusion network : In fact, the subject of women should always be linked to diversity which is as important. By the way, global inclusion is a key factor for a better European coordination. Moreover, this network should not only concern cinema but include other groups of society around the world and also look for a balance between location, age or nationality.
• Share the process with other sectors of activities where parity does exist : building the women’s confidence to encourage women’s applications more and more.
• Having a European commission : for research and lobbying.
• Emphasis on actions in festivals : Focusing on measures put in place by each country and share good practices… Especially by encouraging women to keep going and not to drop out when they have been turned down.
• Devote much more time to these issues : lead time and prep time to organise events at the big festivals.
• Doing something around the world : With our films and on gender balance. Festivals have real power, so let’s use it.

NUGGETS QUOTES

• « Money is power and when you work on it, you get power. »
• « If I have to choose between two films, one directed by a woman and the other one by a man, I will always choose the woman. »
• « In the cinema, we are a bit afraid of feminism. In other sectors, women are much more militant. »
• « Compared to other businesses, cinema is not the worst. But I don’t think it is the best neither. »
• « The support you get from other women is really important. »
• « We don’t have a strong policy, we just make things happen. »
• « We have very strong female production companies, and they are the ones making the projects and bringing the money. »
• « The higher you go, the less you have women. »
• « Festivals are crucial because they select films, and so is the selection committee. »
• « Women are struggling with confidence. That’s why they don’t become filmmakers or producers. »
• « How can we do to encourage women to apply for funding? If you’d be turned down once, what can you do? How do we turn out the confidence ? »

*Pour mémoire : règles de confidentialité et de publication du Lab :

Nous utilisons la règle dite de Chatham House, du nom d’un célèbre think tank britannique.

Cette règle est utilisée pour réglementer la confidentialité des informations échangées lors d’une réunion : quand une réunion se déroule sous cette règle, les participants sont libres d’utiliser les informations collectées à cette occasion, mais ils ne doivent révéler ni l’identité, ni l’affiliation des personnes à l’origine de ces informations. Cela permet une plus grande liberté de parole et des prises de positions plus fortes.

La liste des participants aux ateliers est en revanche publique, dans le but d’indiquer la diversité et la qualité des personnes présentes et donner de la valeur aux idées émises