ALL POSTS
Cannes Releases Gender Stats for 2019 Festival, in Accordance With Parity Pledge
Representation-wise, Cannes 2019 has been a significant — albeit not unexpected — disappointment for women directors. Just a handful of women-helmed films have been selected for...
Turin Film Festival Commits to Gender Parity Pledge
Another fest has signed the 5050×2020 charter for gender parity and inclusion. Italy’s Turin Film Festival, also known as Torino Film Festival, is following in the footsteps of Cannes,...
Rome Film Festival Signs Gender Parity Pledge
Rome Film Festival has followed in the footsteps of fests such as Cannes, Venice, and TIFF by signing a gender parity pledge. Introduced at Cannes earlier this year, the Pledge is a way to hold...
Mill Valley Film Festival Signs Gender Parity Pledge, Honors Dr. Stacy Smith
The 2018 edition of the Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) features 45 percent women directors in its program. Already a proven supporter of women in film, MVFF has made it official and signed a Gender...
Poland’s Gdynia Film Festival Takes the Gender Parity Pledge
Poland’s Gdynia Film Festival is the latest fest to sign the 5050×2020 Pledge for Gender Parity, Variety reports. The pledge — which was signed Friday by Gdynia general director...
San Sebastian Festival Expected to Sign Gender Parity Pledge
Yet another major festival is set to sign a gender parity pledge. Following the lead of Cannes, Venice, TIFF, and IDFA, among others, Spain’s San Sebastian Festival is expected to sign the...
Festivals That Have Committed to the Gender Parity Pledge
Women and Hollywood is keeping a running list of the film festivals that have signed, or plan to sign, the 5050×2020 Pledge. Created by 5050×2020 — an offshoot of Le Deuxième Regard that...
Cannes Film Festival Signs Pledge In Push for Gender Parity
The issue of the lack of female directors is dominating this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Part of this conversation is how movies get selected and who selects them. Is there a clear submission...
Venice Film Festival’s 2020 Competition Lineup Marks Historic High for Women Directors
Venice Film Festival is finally getting with the times. After years of programming dominated by men, this year’s main Competition lineup features an encouraging number of women directors. The...
Cate Blanchett Will Be Jury President at 2020 Venice Film Festival
Well, maybe the 77th Venice International Film Festival will include more than one or two woman-directed features in competition. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cate Blanchett has been named...
Venice Film Fest Hosts Gender Equality Seminar
Historically, Venice Film Festival has not seemed to give a shit about gender parity or inclusion. Artistic director Alberto Barbera has said he would rather quit than set gender quotas. In the wake...
Locarno Film Festival Releases Gender Stats for the First Time
Last year’s Locarno Film Festival saw the signing of the Programming Pledge for Parity in Inclusion in Cinema Festivals. Supported by the Swiss Women’s Audiovisual Network (SWAN), this...
Locarno Film Festival to Open with Ginevra Elkann’s “Magari”
The 2019 Locarno International Film Festival will kick off with Italian filmmaker Ginevra Elkann’s feature directorial debut. Cineuropa confirmed that “Magari” has been chosen as...
New Study From 5050×2020 Finds Significant Gender Gap in French Film Criticism
It’s been a year since 5050×2020 introduced the Gender Parity Pledge at Cannes, but the equality collective’s work is far from over. Since Cannes 2018, 5050×2020 has...
Rachel Ward’s “Palm Beach” Will Open 2019 Sydney Film Festival
Rachel Ward’s latest will kick things off at this year’s Sydney Film Festival. The Sydney Morning Herald confirms “Palm Beach,” an ensemble comedy about a group of friends...
Berlinale Breaks Down 2019 Gender Stats in New Report
The 69th annual Berlinale begins today and, while the fest will not officially sign the Gender Parity Pledge until Saturday, it’s already stepping up its transparency efforts. The Berlin...
Berlinale Will Sign the Gender Parity Pledge
The 2019 Berlin International Film Festival won’t kick off until next Thursday, February 7, but it’s already made history. Screen Daily confirms fest artistic director Dieter Kosslick...
Heartland Film Fest Signs Gender Parity Pledge
More fests are showing support — and agreeing to do their part — in making the film industry more inclusive. Heartland Film Inc., the nonprofit organizer of the Heartland International...
Upholding Gender Parity Pledge, Cannes Unveils Selection Committee for the First Time
The Cannes Film Festival is sticking to its word. Last year the fest signed the Gender Parity Pledge, promising to make its film selection process more transparent to the public — and inspired...
Goteborg Film Fest to Sign Gender Parity Pledge, 2019 Lineup Is 41 Percent Women-Directed
Cannes, Venice, and Toronto were among the many film festivals to sign the 5050×2020 charter for gender parity and inclusion in 2018. It looks like more fests will commit to the initiative in...
France Launches Financial Incentives for Productions with Gender Parity
France is launching a state funding bonus for productions in which the director and key crew members are women, ScreenDaily reports. Earlier this year the country’s — and arguably...
IDFA Signs the 5050×2020 Pledge for Gender Parity and Inclusion
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...
TIFF Becomes Latest Fest to Sign the Gender Parity Pledge
Women and Hollywood — alongside 5050×2020, Le Deuxieme Regard, and TIME’S UP — is excited to report that the Toronto International Film Festival has signed the Gender Parity Pledge....
Amidst Backlash Over Lack of Women Directors, Venice Film Fest Signs Gender Parity Pledge
The Venice Film Festival is finally taking tangible steps toward gender equality. The festival signed the 5050×2020 Pledge yesterday, in spite of Artistic Director Alberto Barbera previously...
Sarajevo Film Festival Signs 5050×2020 Pledge
The Sarajevo Film Festival has followed Cannes, Annecy, and Locarno’s lead and officially committed to gender equality among its filmmakers and leadership. Fest director Mirsad Purivatra...
Locarno Fest to Sign Pledge for Parity and Inclusion
Locarno Festival is committing to change. A press release from the Switzerland-based fest announced that President Marco Solari and Vice President Carla Speziali will sign the Programming Pledge for...
Directors’ Fortnight Announces Gender-Balanced Committee, Upholding Cannes 50/50 Pledge
In a positive sign of things to come for Cannes 2019, the fest’s Directors’ Fortnight sidebar has unveiled a gender-balanced selection committee. The six-member group, led by Delegate...
Annecy Animation Film Festival Signs 5050×2020 Pledge
Last month Thierry Frémaux sparked international headlines when he signed a pledge for gender parity at Cannes Film Festival. The head of the fest, along with with his colleagues at the...
Cannes Film Festival Campaign
The Cannes Film Festival is one of the key moments on the film world calendar. Women and Hollywood has used the festival to create an international conversation on the lack of opportunities for women...
French Film Industry Introduces 50/50 by 2020 Gender Equality Initiative
Members of the French film industry are gearing up their fight for gender equality just in time for Friday’s César Awards. Per Deadline, 300 artists and execs are lending their support to 5050...
45 Music Festivals Vow 50/50 Gender Parity in Lineups by 2022
Music festivals including Toronto’s North by North East (NXNE) and New York’s Winter Jazzfest and A2IM Indie Week have promised 50/50 gender parity in their lineups by 2022. Pitchfork reports...
Documentary Departments at BBC and Channel 4 Commit to 50 Percent Women Directors
The documentary departments at the BBC and Channel 4 have both committed to 50 percent women director hires across their respective outputs. According to Deadline, they follow the current affairs...
Cannes’ Ratio of Women-Directed Competition Films Remains Stagnant at 17 Percent
Update: Cannes announced additional titles April 21. Revised stats can be found below our original post. It’s been nearly four years since Cannes Film Festival head Thierry Frémaux signed...
Cannes Disappoints Yet Again: Just 17 Percent of This Year’s Competition Films Are Directed by Women
As gender parity becomes increasingly commonplace in festival programming, Cannes continues to lag far behind. Long considered one of the most prestigious fests in the world, Cannes still seems to be...
Jodie Foster Will Receive Honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes This Year
Jodie Foster is joining the likes of Agnès Varda, Jane Fonda, and Jeanne Moreau. The actress, director, and producer is set to receive Cannes Film Festival’s Honorary Palme d’Or,...
Contrary to Reports, Cannes’ 2020 Lineup Does Not Mark a Historic High for Women Directors
COVID-19 put the brakes on the 73rd edition of Cannes Film Festival, but the fest has decided to announce its 2020 program allowing films to append the moniker “Official Section of the 2020...
Berlinale 2020: 33 Percent of Competition Titles Are Women-Directed
The Berlin International Film Festival has announced its 2020 Competition lineup. The program is composed of 18 titles, and six of them, or 33 percent, are directed or co-directed by women. Last...
The Biggest Moments of the Decade for Women in Film
The fight for gender equality and inclusion in show business is very much one step forward, two steps back. Just consider the 2020 Golden Globe nominations: even though there were a bunch of great...
Göteborg Film Fest’s 2020 Edition Will Be 50 Percent Women-Directed
Most film festival organizers believe in gender equality — in theory. In practice, they talk about the importance of parity but sometimes there is no real plan and sometimes it’s about...
Laura Dern, Olivia Wilde, and Kasi Lemmons Among Mind the Gap’s 2019 Participants
Mill Valley Film Festival’s (MVFF) gender equity program has announced its 2019 schedule. Laura Dern, Olivia Wilde, Kasi Lemmons, Women and Hollywood’s own Melissa Silverstein, and many...
San Sebastian 2019: Official Selection Includes Three Women-Directed Films
Earlier this week, the San Sebastian International Film Festival announced that women directed more than half of its 2019 New Directors lineup. Now the fest has unveiled new additions to its Official...
Women Directed Over Half of San Sebastian’s 2019 New Directors Lineup
Spain’s San Sebastian International Film Festival signed the Gender Parity Pledge last year and — if its 2019 New Directors lineup is any indication — is taking its commitment to...
Just Two Women-Directed Features Will Screen in Competition at Venice 2019
Venice Film Festival continues to disappoint. Last year the fest signed the 5050×2020 Pledge, committing to greater transparency in its selection process and staff, with the goal of eventually...
Venice Critics’ Week Lineup to Open with Gitanjali Rao’s “Bombay Rose”
Gitanjali Rao’s feature debut will kick off the 2019 Venice Critics’ Week. The award-winning Indian animator will premiere “Bombay Rose” at the independently run Venice...
Locarno 2019: Women-Directed Films Comprise 28% of Main Lineup
The Locarno International Film Festival has revealed its 2019 program. According to Screen Daily, 10 women-directed pics — including the previously-announced opener, Ginevra Elkann’s...
Lucrecia Martel Named Venice Jury President
Lucrecia Martel will serve as president of the jury at this year’s Venice Film Festival, Variety confirms. The Argentinian filmmaker’s last feature, “Zama,” premiered at the 2017...
Women and Hollywood at Cannes 2019
Credit: “La Pointe courte”/Flore Maquin/Cannes During the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, Women and Hollywood Founder and Publisher Melissa Silverstein participated in the inaugural “Women...
Weekly Update for May 17: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING The Sun Is Also a Star – Directed by Ry Russo-Young; Written by Tracy Oliver College-bound romantic Daniel Bae (Charles Melton) and Jamaica-born pragmatist Natasha...
Quote of the Day: Julianne Moore Speaks in Favor of Quotas While Attending Cannes
“We will not have gender parity unless everybody is cooperating,” said Julianne Moore at recent event at the Cannes Film Festival, per TIME. Cannes signed the 5050×2020 gender parity...
Swedish Film Institute CEO Anna Serner to Be Honored at Mill Valley Film Fest
The Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) is set to celebrate Anna Serner’s commitment to gender parity in the biz. According to a press release, Serner, CEO of the Swedish Film Institute, will...
Cannes: Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s Stacy L. Smith Partners with Women in Motion
Annenberg Inclusion Initiative founder and director Stacy L. Smith is joining forces with Women in Motion, Kering and the Cannes Film Festival’s program spotlighting women in film. According...