the place of female directors in France is progressing in 2022 but remains a minority, according to the CNC

The place of female directors in cinema remains very much in the minority in France, but continues to progress, reaching for the first time the threshold of one third of films in 2022, according to figures published on Wednesday March 30 by the CNC. In total, 69 French initiative films were shot by female directors last year, or 33.2% of the films made, according to the Observatory of Film Production.

It’s a “historical high” which testifies to along-term feminization“, according to the CNC. The 30% threshold was crossed for the first time in 2021. In 2018, less than a quarter (23.6%) of films were still directed by women. “The increase in the share of films directed by women (…) is felt mainly in fiction films“, underlines the CNC, with 34% of films directed by women against 28% in 2021.

“Encouraging figures”

Another sign of the rebalancing at work, the average budget of films directed by men or by women is clearly reduced, even if most of the big projects continue to escape them. In 2022, there were three films with more than 10 million euros made by women.

“These are encouraging figures, but there is still a long way to go“, reacted Quentin Deleau Latournerie, of the 50/50 collective, specializing in the question of parity in the cinema. “Animation, in particular, remains very masculine, and male directors are more likely to be able to finance a fourth or fifth film than female directors.“, he underlines.