We’ll have to wait and see whether Cannes director Thierry Frémaux keeps good on the gender parity pledge he signed a couple of weeks ago committing to address the underrepresentation of women directors at the fest, but there’s proof of progress elsewhere in France. French culture minister Françoise Nyssen is prepping the launch of a fund that will support between 10 and 20 projects by women filmmakers, Variety reports. Nyssen first spoke about the initiative, named Venus Victrix, at Cannes.

Created with the help of Eric Garandeau, former president of the National Center of Cinematography and the moving image (CNC), Venus Victrix will “co-finance the development and production of movies from female directors around the world,” the source explains. It will “take the form of an endowment fund so that donors – either businesses of individuals — will be able to benefit from a 60 percent tax cut on contributions.”

The plan is for the fund to regroup different partner brands which will team up to “walk the talk” and give “tangible support for the cause of women in cinema,” according to Garandeau. He added, “Talk is good, Action is better. Salma Hayek and Frances McDormand summarized the necessary action very succinctly when they said ‘What women need to make more films is money!’” Garandeau played an instrumental role in launching the Women in Motion program at Cannes.

“Women’s share of funding [in France] is low whether at national or regional level or coming from the public or private sector: it represents less than 20 percent of the total available amount,” a report from the European Women’s Audiovisual Network details. “Between 2009 and 2013 the percentage of female directors who received national funding has remained lower than their male counterparts, with an average 80/20 ratio across the period concerned. The percentage share should also be read in context with the difference in amounts awarded, as women’s projects receive less funding overall than those of their male counterparts.”