Eight Irish Film Festivals Sign up to Cannes Pledge for Gender Parity and Inclusion in Film Festivals
Posted: 14th May 2019
A total of eight Irish Film festivals have accepted their invitation to sign up to the 5050 by 2020 Gender Parity and Inclusion Pledge which was launched by Cannes Festival chiefs at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
The pledge was initiated by the 5050 pour 2020 collective which aims to work on issues of equality and diversity within the film industry. It invites film festivals across the world to compile statistics of gender of the directors of all the films submitted to selection, to publish the gender of the members of selection committees, programmers and programming consultants and to commit to a transformation schedule of the executive bodies to achieve parity in them.
The signatories of the pledge include Animation Dingle, Cork Film Festival, Dublin Feminist Film Festival, Galway Film Fleadh, GAZE LGBT Film Festival, Kerry Film Festival, Still Voices Short Film Festival and Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival.
The official Irish festival signing was held yesterday at the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin. In attendance was John Rice (Co-Founder & Director Animation Dingle), Fiona Clark (Producer & CEO Cork Film Festival), Aoife O’Toole (Director Dublin Feminist Film Festival), Ronan O’ Toole (Director Still Voices Short Film Festival) and Gráinne Humphreys (Festival Director Dublin International Film Festival) as well as Dr. Susan Liddy, (Chair of Women in Film & Television Ireland).
Commenting on the positive response from Irish film festivals, Dr. Liddy said, “It’s heartening that so many Irish film festivals have joined forces with us to formally commit to the principle of gender parity and inclusion in festivals. We warmly welcome their enthusiasm and solidarity and we hope this initiative will mark the beginning of a supportive partnership between us. We need more women in the film industry at every level. While girls’ and women’s voices are not heard and their stories are not told, our culture is the poorer for it. Film festivals are a hugely important part of any conversation about equality.”
All Irish festival signatories have committed to giving a full update to Women in Film & Television Ireland, who will publish their progress during their individual 2020 festivals.
Women in Film & Television Ireland will also update the 5050 Pour 2020 Collective about the new signatories in time for the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
Commenting on their involvement in the pledge, Gráinne Humphreys, Festival Director of Dublin International Film Festival said, “Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival is proud to be part of the first group of signatories to the 5050x2020 Charter. The festival puts the films and filmmakers at its heart and understands the importance of nurturing new and experienced talent alike. In 2019, of the over 100 feature length films screened at the festival, we are glad to say that 59% had women producers and 30% were produced by people of colour. However, the Festival is not complacent about its progress to date, and recognizes that there is more work to be done to achieve diversity in all of its activities.”
International festivals that have signed the pledge include Venice Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival and San Sebastián International Film Festival.