Only a little more than 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 positions decision of the 7th art.
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Only 26% of European feature films (from EU member countries) were directed by female filmmakers over the period 2018-2022, according to the 2023 edition of a study by the European Audiovisual Observatory . This is progress compared to the 2017-2021 period, where the proportion was 21%.
“Underrepresented in key positions”
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, writes the report, they remain “underrepresented 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 so-called “Lumière” database of the European Audiovisual Observatory, which aggregates annual admissions of films released in theaters from various sources, notably national film agencies.