The Swedish Film Institute is developing a program to inform and educate filmmakers about sexual harassment. Expected to officially launch in 2018, the full-day initiative appears to have been created in response to the recent wave of sexual harassment and assault revelations from the Scandinavian film industry, Variety reports.
The program will teach producers and filmmakers about what constitutes sexual harassment and outline acceptable and unacceptable workplace behavior. “Each participant in the program will receive a ‘green card,’” the source reveals, “and the Swedish Film Institute will only give production or early-development funding to producers and filmmakers who have the card.”
News of the sexual harassment education program hits only a few days after a report was published detailing the constant “sexual harassment, degradation, and bullying” at Danish director Lars Von Trier’s production company, Zentropa. And Oscar winner Alicia Vikander was among the almost 600 actresses to sign an open letter criticizing the culture of abuse in Swedish film and theater.
“Sexual harassment absolutely needs to be defined to draw the line — it is still frequent to see men with power consciously using sexual harassment to get what they want and firm up their power,” observed Swedish Film Institute CEO Anna Serner. “These days, I see some of these men who are known for their sexual misconduct who dare to point the finger at other men who are being accused, as if they were not even aware of the way they are behaving with women,” she said. “We hope the program will prompt some real change. We don’t want to see blood; we just want to see change.”
Like their colleagues at the Swedish Film Institute, several organizations and figures from Hollywood are also making an effort to combat the rampant harassment and abuse in show business. 20th Century Fox VP Claire Schmidt announced her plans to head AllVoices, a startup designed to fight workplace harassment. “The Hunting Ground” filmmakers Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick are currently collecting research for their documentary about the widespread assault in show business. Women In Film is organizing a sexual harassment Help Line and pro bono legal service. And Los Angeles DA Jackie Lacey is forming a sexual assault task force.
