Mind the Gap, Mill Valley Film Festival’s platform for inclusion and equity, will welcome Regina King, Kate Winslet, Viola Davis, Judi Dench, and more to its 2020 edition. Kicking off today, October 8, and running through October 18, Mind the Gap will feature plenty of conversations and panels exploring intersectionality, representation, and inclusion of women, BIPOC, the LGBTQ+ community, and folks with disabilities in the entertainment industry.
King, Winslet, Davis, and Dench will participate in Mind the Gap discussions, as will others such as Sophia Loren and “Herself” star and co-writer Clare Dunne. Davis will also receive the Mind the Gap Award – Actor of the Year, while King’s directorial debut, “One Night in Miami” is set to screen. Chloe Zhao’s critical darling “Nomadland” is part of the film lineup as well.
“Evolution of Black Women’s Roles Onscreen” and “Rethinking Classics: Towards a More Democratic Global Canon” are among Mind the Gap 2020’s panels and roundtables. The former will see creatives, actors, and curators exploring how the representation of Black women has changed in front of the camera over time. “Rethinking Classics” challenges the idea of the film canon and questions why what we consider “classic” film is so often made by and about white men.
Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Old Guard”), Alice Wu (“The Half of It”), Radha Blank (“The Forty Year Old Version”), and Gia Coppola (“Mainstream”) will sit down for the Directors Forum, and talk about their experiences releasing a movie in 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This event will feature a keynote from ReFrame co-founder and Welle Entertainment CEO Cathy Schulman.
Women and Hollywood founder and publisher Melissa Silverstein consulted on Mind the Gap 2020 alongside Themba Bhebhe, who heads Diversity and Inclusion at Berlinale’s European Film Market.
Check out more of Mind the Gap 2020’s activities below, courtesy of the program. You can find further information on Mind the Gap’s website. Use the promo code DQ88Q29 to receive $1 off any regularly-priced online screening.
MTG1 – Evolution of Black Women’s Roles Onscreen
This conversation with film creatives, actors, and curators will chart the changing nature of the portrayal of Black women onscreen. By revisiting the simplistic type-casting of Black women in film since its inception, the speakers will discuss how the representation of Black women in Hollywood and beyond has moved towards a variety of depictions and voices.
MTG2 – Rethinking Classics: Towards a More Democratic Global Canon
For as long as there has been a film canon, it has been dominated by white heterosexual men as creatives, educators, and critics. This canon has in recent times come under increased pressure to open up to a broader spectrum of authors and perspectives. Challenging this canon involves questioning the criteria and the conventions for films to be considered “worthy” of being an important film as well as who is making those decisions. This event will explore how to shift the decision-making on what enters the international canon towards a broader, more inclusive, and ultimately more democratic pool so that these goals can be achieved at a global level.
Centerpiece Conversations
The centerpiece events of this year’s Mind the Gap programming will explore two distinct but overlapping strategies adopted by BIPOC-led organizations, collectives and initiatives in the way they engage with the entertainment industry. There are those in this industry working to effect change from the inside and others who opt to create alternative structures; many combine a mixture of both approaches. In the wake of the covid-19 pandemic and the global uprising against racism, this conversation is all the more timely and urgent given the formation of new initiatives and alliances and their shift in focus following both watershed moments of 2020.
MTG3 – Changing the Industry from the Inside
By creating awareness and a conversation around discrimination, marginalization, and underrepresentation, these are organizations, collectives, and initiatives striving to address the fundamental systemic inequities of the film industry and effect change from the inside. This conversation will explore how these industry players are using their power and clout to create structural change across Hollywood and beyond.
MTG4 – Building Your Own Table & Chairs
As a response to the many ism’s that are endemic to the film industry, these organizations, collectives and initiatives have chosen to focus their attention on building alternative networks, platforms and eco-systems – alongside the mainstream industry – in which their communities can flourish, create power structures, and set their own rules. As opposed to working towards having a seat at the table, these industry players have opted to create their own table.
MTG5 – Mind the Gap Directors Forum and Keynote
2020 will go down as the year when everything changed—in ways both daunting and exciting. Where will it all lead? With theaters closed, festivals cancelling or re-inventing, online platforms springing up, zoom rooms and virtual events becoming ubiquitous, words like “pivot” and “nimble” have peppered daily discussions about work, life, and navigating radical change. It seems like a 20-year growth spurt packed into a single year. This program considers what things will return and what will have shifted as we imagine the future for independent filmmakers. The program includes a keynote by award-winning industry leader Cathy Schulman, co-founder of ReFrame and President and CEO, Welle Entertainment. This program will consist of a roundtable of directors whose work was released this year discussing their experiences of navigating 2020 and their insights about how this year’s challenges may inform innovations in the post-pandemic world of film. Panelists include: Radha Blank (The 40 Year Old Version), Gia Coppola (Mainstream), Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Old Guard), and Alice Wu (The Half of It).
All these discussions are free to anyone across the globe and can be accessed here.
Note: Women and Hollywood is consulting with Mind the Gap in a paid capacity.
