Wikipedia

5050x2020

5050x2020 is a hashtag used to campaign for gender parity in the film industry. The campaign was launched by the Swedish Film Institute at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016.

Origin edit

The campaign #5050x2020 was launched at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, when the Swedish Film Institute hosted an event titled FiftyFifty by 2020. Featured speakers were Sweden's Minister for Culture and Democracy, Alice Bah Kuhnke, and France's Minister for Culture, Audrey Azoulay, alongside Roberto Olla, the Executive Director of Eurimages, and Anna Serner, CEO of the Swedish Film Institute. Additional participants included Oscar-nominated director Ruben Östlund, producer Emilie Lesclaux, producer Chiara Tilesi, and director Alexandra-Therese Keining.[1][2][3][4]

Background edit

When Anna Serner was appointed as CEO of the Swedish Film Institute in 2011, she made it a priority to ensure that half of all film funding would be allocated to female filmmakers. In 2011, women directed 26% of the films funded by the Swedish Film Institute. By 2014, the goal of 50% of the films funded by the Swedish Film Institute being directed by women was reached.[5][6][7] Female directors now win approximately as many of the awards in the major categories at the Swedish national film awards as male directors (Guldbaggen).[8][9]

Impact edit

National film commissions edit

Shortly after the Swedish Film Institute's event at the Cannes Film Festival, several national film commissions and film institutes, such as the British Film Institute, Telefilm Canada, Screen Ireland and Screen Australia, committed to the gender parity goal of #5050x2020.[10][11][12][13][8] Later, the Austrian Film Institute also joined the national film institutes working for 50/50 gender parity.[14]

In September 2016, Creative Scotland made a commitment to gender equality across Scotland's five publicly funded arts sectors by making a formal pledge to achieve 50/50 gender balance across their boardrooms by 2020.[15]

In October 2017, Eurimages, the cultural support fund of the Council of Europe, adopted a new Gender Equality Strategy aiming at 50/50 support divided across female and male film directors by 2020.[16][17]

In the same month, the British Film Institute set a 50/50 gender balance as part of their new diversity targets.[18][19]

National initiatives and campaigns edit

Several independent national initiatives and campaigns for gender parity in the film industry have also emerged under the banner #5050x2020. The British Film Institute's decision was largely influenced by campaigning by the organization Directors UK, starting in 2016, demanding that 50% of films backed by UK-based public funding bodies to be directed by women by 2020.[20]

Also in the UK, ERA 50:50 is an industry-led campaign working for 50/50 gender balance on British stages and screens by 2020, with of support from actors including Emma Thompson, Jude Law, James McAvoy and Olivia Colman.[21]

Similarly, the UK's National Theatre has committed to ensuring gender equality in terms of the directors and living writers the venue employs by 2021.[22]

In France, the Collectif 5050x2020 was launched in March 2018 by the group Le Deuxieme Regard. The group consists of several hundred professionals from across the French cinema world, with the aim of working towards concrete steps to bring about equality across the business.[23][24][25]

In December 2017, American talent agency ICM Partners pledged to commit to #5050x2020, and vowed that half the agency's partnership, half its department heads and half its board of directors would be women. "It's not enough to have 50 percent [female] employees," ICM Partners' managing director Chris Silbermann told The Hollywood Reporter. "Women have to be equally represented in true positions of leadership and influence throughout the company."[26] Shortly thereafter, American talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) committed to #5050x2020, meaning that its management and leadership would have equal gender participation by 2020. In a memo, agency president Richard Lovett wrote “We are so grateful to our female colleagues, clients and others across the industry for bringing focus to this necessary and overdue goal. Lasting change requires new day-to-day habits. We must act in support of our shared truth: Our business and our lives will be better and stronger if we treat each other the way we wish to be treated.”[27]

In November 2018, the website The Wrap hosted an event called ”Power Women Summit – The Road to 50/50 by 2020” to address the gender imbalance in the US film industry.[28]

International film festivals edit

Several national women's groups have worked towards getting leading international film festivals to sign pledges to work towards gender parity. After campaigning from the Collectif 5050x2020, the Cannes Film Festival signed a pledge in May 2018, “promising to compile statistics on the gender of the filmmakers and key crew members of movies submitted to the festival. The festival also promised to improve transparency around their selection processes by publicly listing the members of their selection and programming committees, and to work towards parity on their executive boards”.[29]

In August 2018, the Venice Biennale, which runs the Venice Film Festival, signed a "Charter for Parity and Inclusion", after campaigning from the European Women's Audiovisual Network, Women in Film & TV International, WIFT Nordic, WIFT Sweden, and the Swiss Women's Audiovisual Network (SWAN), alongside Dissenso Comune and Women in Film, TV & Media Italia.[30][31][32] Both Venice and Cannes have previously received criticism for not including female filmmakers in their respective film programming.[33][34][35]

In June 2018, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival signed a pledge to promote gender equality and transparency at the festival as well as on the planning organization's staff, after campaigning by the organizations Women in Animation and Les Femmes s'Animent.[36]

Following campaigning by the Swiss Women's Audiovisual Network (SWAN), the Locarno Film Festival signed a pledge for parity and inclusion in programming in August 2018.[37][38][39] Also in August 2018, The Sarajevo Film Festival signed a pledge for gender parity.[40]

In September 2018, The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and the San Sebastian International Festival signed a pledge for #5050×2020 gender parity and inclusion, and in October 2018, Mill Valley International Film Festival and The Rome International Film Festival did the same.[41][42][43][44]

In February 2019, The Berlin International Film Festival pledged to promote gender equality.[45][46][47]

Following the 50/50 pledge, the official programme of Göteborg Film Festival 2020 will have a majority of female directors.[48]

References edit

  1. ^ "Cannes: U.K. Industry Targets Gender Equality in Film Funding by 2020". The Hollywood Reporter. 15 May 2016.
  2. ^ Badt, Karin (18 May 2016). "Cannes 2016: The "Feminist" Government of Sweden Promotes Gender Equality in Film". HuffPost.
  3. ^ "Women in film "Wikipedia" planned".
  4. ^ Eurimages (15 May 2016). "Today FiftyFyfty by 2020 Plage Royale, 3:00pm #5050by2020 at #Cannes2016".
  5. ^ Heyman, Stephen (7 October 2015). "How Swedish Cinema Gave Women Directors a Bigger Role". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Heckel, Jodi. "How Sweden took the lead on gender equity in film". news.illinois.edu.
  7. ^ Byrnes, Paul (23 May 2015). "How Sweden hit its 50:50 gender target for film production in record time". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. ^ a b Keegan, Rebecca (25 May 2016). "Putting money where the gender diversity is: How international film boards are pushing the cause of female filmmakers". Los Angeles Times.
  9. ^ "English - Guldbaggen 2018". guldbaggen.se.
  10. ^ Roberts, Ben (13 May 2016). "Female film directors must get equal funding – but they mustn't all be white". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  11. ^ "Telefilm Canada announces, in partnership with the industry, gender parity measures for feature film production financing". Telefilm Canada. 11 November 2016.
  12. ^ "Gender & Diversity Policy and Key Statements - Screen Ireland". www.screenireland.ie.
  13. ^ "Gender Matters: Final stages revealed". Screen Australia.
  14. ^ "Projektkommission". Österreichisches Filminstitut.
  15. ^ "Finding The Balance: Scotland Aims For 50/50 By 2020". 21 September 2016.
  16. ^ "Eurimages adopts new Gender Equality Strategy aiming at 50/50 support for projects by women and men film directors by 2020". Gender Equality.
  17. ^ Eurimages’ Gender Equality Strategy (2018-2020): Aiming for 50/50 by 2020
  18. ^ "BFI Sets 50/50 Gender Balance As Part of New Diversity Targets". 10 October 2017.
  19. ^ Grater, Tom (2017-10-10). "BFI makes key changes to Film Fund (exclusive)". Screen.
  20. ^ "Directors UK - Campaigns - Gender Equality in the UK Film Industry". www.directors.uk.com.
  21. ^ "Our Campaign - ERA 50:50".
  22. ^ Hemley, Matthew (3 February 2016). "National Theatre commits to gender equality by 2021 - News".
  23. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (28 February 2018). "French Film Industry Launches 50/50 By 2020 Equality Initiative".
  24. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (2018-03-02). "Major film industry gender equality movement launches in France". Screen.
  25. ^ Clarke, Stewart (28 February 2018). "French Stars, Executives Back Gender-Equality Initiative".
  26. ^ "ICM Partners Pledges to Reach 50-50 Gender Parity by 2020 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 6 December 2017.
  27. ^ "CAA Cancels Pre-Golden Globes Party, Will Help Start Legal Fund for Sex Harassment Victims (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 11 December 2017.
  28. ^ "Why We Created the Power Women Summit - The Road to 50/50 by 2020". 2 November 2018.
  29. ^ Keegan, Rebecca (14 May 2018). "Inside the Tent Where Cannes Pledged, at Last, to Change". HWD.
  30. ^ Erbland, Kate (30 August 2018). "Venice Film Festival Will Sign Gender Parity Protocol, But Will Not Pledge to Meet Filmmaker Quotas".
  31. ^ "Women's Groups Demand Action Over Gender Bias in Venice Film Fest Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. 10 August 2018.
  32. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (30 August 2018). "Venice Film Festival Set to Sign Gender-Parity Protocol (Exclusive)".
  33. ^ "Venice Fest Signs Historic Charter for Gender Parity and Inclusion". The Hollywood Reporter. 31 August 2018.
  34. ^ Mumford, Gwilym (14 May 2018). "Cannes film festival unveils equality charter in push for gender parity". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  35. ^ Verhoeven, Deb; Coate, Bronwyn (22 May 2018). "Cannes of worms: true gender equality in film will take more than 'just add women'". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  36. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (13 June 2018). "Annecy Animation Film Festival Pledges Greater Gender Equality".
  37. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (31 July 2018). "Locarno Film Festival Set to Sign Gender Parity Pledge (Exclusive)".
  38. ^ Keslassy, Elsa; Hopewell, John (5 August 2018). "Locarno Film Festival Signs Pledge for Gender Parity in Programming".
  39. ^ "Locarno Festival Commits to Pledge for Gender Parity and Inclusion". The Hollywood Reporter. 31 July 2018.
  40. ^ Meza, Ed (16 August 2018). "Sarajevo Film Festival Signs Gender-Parity Pledge".
  41. ^ "IDFA Signs the 5050×2020 Pledge for Gender Parity and Inclusion". womenandhollywood.com.
  42. ^ Hopewell, John (2018-09-18). "San Sebastian Festival to Sign Gender Parity Charter". Variety. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  43. ^ "Mill Valley Film Festival Signs Gender Parity Pledge, Honors Dr. Stacy Smith". womenandhollywood.com.
  44. ^ "Rome Joins Cannes, Toronto and Venice Film Festivals in Signing Gender Parity Pledge". The Hollywood Reporter. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  45. ^ "Berlin festival aims for gender equality with half of films by women". Reuters. 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  46. ^ Meza, Ed (2019-02-09). "Berlin Festival Signs Gender-Parity Pledge, Touts Strong History With Women Filmmakers". Variety. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  47. ^ "Berlin Festival Boss Dieter Kosslick Signs Gender Parity Pledge". The Hollywood Reporter. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  48. ^ "5050Vision". Göteborg Film Festival. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
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