(Paris) Only a little over a quarter of European films are by a female director, according to the 2023 edition of a study by the European Audiovisual Observatory, which deplores the “under-representation” of women in decision-making positions of the 7e art.
Over the period 2018-2022, only 26% of European feature films (from EU member countries) were directed by female filmmakers. This is progress compared to the 2017-2021 period, when the proportion was 21%.
Elsewhere in cinema, women are a little more numerous.
It is among producers that they are best represented (35%), i.e. in a profession that is not very visible, but essential for the cinema economy. And among screenwriters, they are 29%.
Among directors of photography, a prestigious and historically popular profession for men, women are in the minority: 11%.
Overall, the report writes, they remain “under-represented in key positions”.
The male-female ratio is more balanced on screen. They represent 41% of all performers playing at least one main role in a feature film.
These statistics come from the LUMIÈRE database of the European Audiovisual Observatory, which aggregates annual admissions of films released in theaters from various sources, notably national film agencies.