At the end of October, the second annual Dublin Feminist Film Festival will take place. The festival showcases the work of female directors, both past and present, in an area in which they have historically been underrepresented. This September, the international organisation Women in Film and Television (WIFT), which aims to support women in the industry by campaigning around issues like equal pay and providing a mutually supportive networking platform, launched in Dublin. How necessary are such measures in the context of increased recognition of issues around gender and sexism in the media and across the arts? To find out, we spoke to four women currently active in the Irish film-making scene.
The statistics show that, in mainstream cinema, women simply aren’t as prevalent as men, both in front of and behind the camera. Karla Healion, director of the Feminist Film Festival, points out that only about 5% of directors of big-budget films are female, while Kathy Rose O’Brien, committee member of the Irish branch of WIFT, says that “challenges for actresses in the business are apparent in the sad fact that last year only 12% of lead roles in Hollywood movies were female ones.” In Ireland, the situation is not much better. Healion comments: “I recently read a Film Ireland article that said only 13% of Irish (funded) films are written by women, so we seem to be in the same predicament as the rest of the world.” O’Brien believes there is “a fair amount of discontent and frustration” amongst women in Irish cinema, having experienced this at panel discussions held by WIFT, but points out that there isn’t enough data about the Irish industry to ascertain the details of the situation with regard to gender equality: “Women in Film and TV Ireland aims to gather this homegrown data, but we need certain bodies to be aware of gender to achieve this: for example, by having boxes on applications and forms we can establish where funding goes and who is hired, gender-wise.”
Pat Murphy, whose documentary Tana Bana was recently released at the IFI, has this to say: “There are far too few women making films. Over the last 30 years we have seen an increase in women producers, editors and designers, but still very few directors and even less cinematographers. There is nothing inherently anti-women in filmmaking: there is nothing in the process that women cannot do. Current practice is so entrenched in sexism that men think this situation is the norm.” It’s not all negative – Cara Holmes, editor and founder of Holmes-Made Films, reminds us that “there is such a vibrant scene at the moment, and so many people doing really interesting work”, but also wishes that women were more active in the industry: “As a cinema-goer, the majority of Irish films I see are written by men, and female characters are often weaker, written as secondary support characters.”
Holmes and Healion both think that addressing this balance is hugely important, for various reasons. Healion explains why it is important to have women behind the camera specifically: “Men are so often thought of as cultural producers, while women are either objects or consumers of culture. Everything in film is mediated and that’s what gives filmmakers such a wonderful power and opportunity, so we owe it to the world to hear and see narratives that are chosen and portrayed by women. There’s also been research done that tells us that when a woman (anyone who identifies as a woman) is in a principal role behind the camera, it’s much more likely that women will be hired in other roles.” Holmes believes that this in turn will lead to better representation on screen: “The more women working in features, the more complex female characters we’ll see on screen, and the more chance we have of looking at the world from a different perspective. Not that every female writer will want to write about women’s issues or feminist themes, but there will certainly be more varied and diverse ways of telling a story in film.”
“Support and funding can’t all be based on audience numbers and ticket sales if we are to allow bold and original talent on screen.”
Documentary filmmaking is an area in which women seem to be relatively more successful. Recently, there have been numerous well-received documentaries made by Irish women, including One Million Dubliners, Aoife Kelleher’s portrait of Glasnevin Cemetery, and Dearbhla Glynn’s The Value of Women in the Congo, which screened at the IFI Documentary Festival in September, where there was also a panel discussion exploring the prevalence of women in the documentary scene. Both Murphy and Holmes have worked on documentaries, and Holmes believes it is “a healthy, mixed and vibrant area of film to work in, in which there are tonnes of talented women.” When asked why women might be drawn to documentaries, Healion points out that it is “often a fundamentally socially conscious medium”, which might make it an environment more sensitive to gender issues. Documentary is, by nature, more realistic than mainstream cinema, and features less of the stereotyping that women often receive in blockbuster films. “In documentary there is no script, we hear and see the real deal. We love good stories, and sometimes in fiction films, great stories can be diluted either through the storytelling, writing, or acting. There are so many elements and layers to have to deal with in making features,” says Holmes. She thinks that although the showcasing of female stories in documentaries is a good thing, filmmakers “need to start looking outside the traditional (friendly, generic, non-challenging) story and open up to everyday reality of life. I personally want to see more LGBT stories on screen, more people with disabilities included. True, solid stories that we can all relate to.”
Despite the challenges that women face, according to Healion, there is “an appetite in Ireland for supporting and celebrating women in film, and we have some incredible women working in the industry. There are strands celebrating women in film at most big festivals, and plenty of practitioners who are pushing boundaries, and academics who are asking questions. It’s a fascinating time for women in the arts.” One specific area that needs improvement if gender equality is to be reached in the industry is funding. Holmes says: “Accessing funding is a main priority for everyone in the industry. This is not unique to women, but I feel within the Irish context, we have to prove ourselves more. We need the funding and training bodies to encourage and embrace new voices, particularly the voices of women of all ages. Support and funding can’t all be based on audience numbers and ticket sales if we are to allow bold and original talent on screen. The BFI (British Film Institute) in the UK has a three ticks policy when allocating funding. Their Film Fund has set up a list of criteria, in relation to ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation and socio-economic status, that productions applying for funding need to meet. This is all in an effort to improve diversity within the film and TV industries, and it would be positive for the Irish film board to make similar moves. The more people who are funded (women/men/non-binary), the more we will hear and see diverse voices in film – narrative and documentary.”
“There is a huge opportunity for WIFT to extend its concerns beyond issues of funding, to generate debate around representation and the kind of films women want to make.”
This funding problem leads to an entrenchment of sexist culture within the industry, according to Murphy. “There is a staggering lack of self-questioning within funding bodies and this perpetuates a really unhealthy, backwards regime. Most directors these days are film school graduates. Half of these graduates are women who go on to have considerable success with short films on the festival circuit and beyond. Yet when you look at who gets to make features, the women’s names drop off the radar. Some of this is down the culture of male bonding. Guys like to work with guys. And that’s all very well if they are using their own money: they have the right to spend it as they wish. Where it becomes problematic is if state funds – taxpayers’ money – is being used to perpetuate a culture of inequality.”
The Feminist Film Festival, and the launch of WIFT Ireland, are indicative of efforts within the industry to effect positive change. When asked about the potential of WIFT, committee member O’Brien says: “The international organisation has a lot of momentum behind it from powerful, vocal members who talk about equal pay, rights and how to specifically mentor women who may not have access to leading figures in the industry, due to their sex or lack of membership to the boys’ club that the industry can be.” Murphy believes that “there is a huge opportunity for WIFT to extend its concerns beyond issues of funding, to generate debate around representation and the kind of films women want to make. There is such a positive vibe around with regard to women and cinema right now. I feel that the situation is urgent, yes, but at the same time, a kind of critical mass has been reached and I am expecting to see big changes in the near future”.
The Feminist Film Festival is a prime example of how women can support each other in Irish cinema. All of the films programmed are directed by women, in contrast to most festivals, where, according to Healion, “the vast majority of films will be written, directed, produced and edited by men.” Murphy thinks “the festival could have a wonderful role in not only promoting new and vibrant forms of feminist cinema, but in highlighting important filmmakers from the past.” She also believes that festivals in general could be used as a means to explore the varied roles that women have played in cinema, saying there “could be seasons around the work of women editors, producers, designers and so on.” Holmes is interested in the Festival as a platform to continue “creating a bigger, more inclusive scene” and is looking forward to “getting out and talking to other women in the industry.” She is optimistic about the future: “The more vocal we are, the more noise we make, the more chance we have of creating change within the industry.”
