As part of our 30th Birthday celebrations we hosted a sell-out film night called: Women in Shorts: Celebrating Tasmanian Women in Film!
We were very honoured to screen 7 short films made by women. It was a celebration and showcase of the awesome film making talent we have here in Tasmania.
The event also aimed to raise awareness about the inequities in the film industry. Did you know that only one woman has won an Academy Award for Best Director in the awards 90-year history? The first woman nominated for a cinematography Academy Award was in 2018? Or of all the feature films made in Australia during the period 1970-2014 only 21% of the writers were women?
Statistics relating to women in the film industry worldwide have been shocking for a long time. But there are many people working towards a brighter future. Women have been advocating for change and it’s gaining momentum.
Screen Australia released a report in 2015 called Gender Matters – Women in the Australian Screen Industry. This report posed the question:
Who is telling Australian stories? And whose stories are being told? Are women adequately represented in key creative roles and positions of influence in the Australian screen industry? If not, why not, and what can we do about it?[1]
One outcome from this report was Screen Australia set up two women only funding programs called Gender Matters: Brilliant Stories and Brilliant Careers. The long-term impacts of these programs are being evaluated and are being watched closely. An overview of outcomes from these programs are due out from Screen Australia later in 2019.[2]
Here’s looking forward to equity for women in the film industry and women’s stories to being embedded in our cinemas and cultural imagination!
[2] https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/backgrounders/2017/11-30-gender-matters