Gender equality in the United Kingdom’s film industry remains a distant goal. A study titled Reformulating the Landscape: An International Comparative Assessment of Gender Equity Policies in the Film Sector, unveiled at the Berlinale festival, projects that at the current pace, parity in the UK could arrive by 2085, roughly six decades from now.
The report analyzed 12,000 films produced between 2005 and 2020 across 34 countries but centered its conclusions on the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada. By these findings, Canada would reach equality in 191 years, this would occur in 2215, while Germany is forecast to achieve parity in 17 years, around 2041.
Slow progress
The same work notes that in the United Kingdom, 78% of all key creative roles are filled by men, and 81% of leadership positions are held by men. In Germany, the figures stand at 74% for creative roles and 86% for leadership, with Canada at 77% and 82% respectively. While the study identifies some modest improvements resulting from the rollout of certain policies, it also reveals only limited shifts in power dynamics over time.
Among the countries studied, some Spanish productions were also examined. One in ten films produced in Spain, 10.7%, was directed exclusively by men, and men participated in writing at least three of every four screenplays, about 85.7% overall.
Pois de pouvoir
“Film industries not only need more women, but women in the right roles,” said one of the report’s authors, Professor Deb Verhoeven from the University of Alberta. Verhoeven added that the modest gains achieved by women and gender minorities have not come at the expense of men; rather, they reflect an expansion of the industry as a whole, not a displacement of male workers.
According to the report, men tend to work disproportionately with other men. Therefore, future policies must help women access positions of power within the industry and require strong accountability mechanisms, financial incentives, and the drive to actively push change within the sector.