The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has taken the 5050×2020 Pledge for Gender Parity and Inclusion in Film Festivals two months ahead of its 31st edition. By signing the Pledge — and joining the likes of Cannes, TIFF, Venice, and more — IDFA is dedicating itself to gender parity among its film selections and leadership ranks via new transparency and accountability standards.
“In signing the Pledge, IDFA commits to the 5050×2020 objectives and invites all festivals to join the collective effort,” fest staff announced. “Together, we can work to end injustice in the film industry, promote practices of inclusion, and enable a new generation of under-represented filmmakers.”
Introduced at Cannes earlier this year, the 5050×2020 Pledge is a way to hold fests accountable as they work towards full gender parity. By signing the document, festival signatories promise to gather stats according to the filmmakers’ gender, identify the fest members who select films to screen, and develop a schedule to achieve equality on the festival board.
Not only has IDFA vowed to make its festival more inclusive, it has also promised to strive for equality in its other programs. “We believe that meeting quotas in the film program is not enough. As the world’s largest documentary film festival, IDFA is in a position to do more,” fest organizers said in a statement. “We seek to create long term change, which requires examining and transforming an industry built on inequality. In addition to the IDFA film program, it is through the IDFA Bertha Fund, IDFAcademy, IDFA Forum, Docs for Sale, Doc School, and all the other IDFA activities that we seek a solid policy of inclusion.”
“With these efforts, IDFA hopes to enable and empower a new generation that is more inclusive, and provide more opportunities to build a new and different reality,” they declared.
It’s unclear whether IDFA will apply the Pledge’s inclusion measures at its 2018 edition or not. But, considering that the fest is making this announcement now, before this year’s lineup has been revealed and with a bit of fanfare, it seems likely that IDFA 2018 will be at least somewhat gender-balanced.
Head over the IDFA website to read the statement in full.
IDFA will be held November 14-25, 2018. This year’s guest of honor will be filmmaker Helena Třeštíková (“Marcela”).
The festival lineup will be announced October 29.
