Settings

ⓕ font-size

  • -2
  • -1
  • 0
  • +1
  • +2

Australian women's filmmaking and gender equity initiatives highlighted at the SIWFF

  • Facebook share button
  • Twitter share button
  • Kakao share button
  • Mail share button
  • Link share button
Moderator Byun Jai-ran, left, speaks during the
Moderator Byun Jai-ran, left, speaks during the "Australian Women's Filmmaking: HerStories and Policies" Forum at the Seoul International Women's Film Festival, organized in cooperation with the Embassy of Australia in Korea. Screenshot from YouTube

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Australia is a country known for promoting gender equality and women's rights, and its film industry is no exception.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Australia and Korea, the Seoul International Women's Film Festival (SIWFF) sheds light on the history of women's filmmaking in Australia, in cooperation with the Australian Embassy in Korea.

Australian Ambassador to Korea Catherine Raper welcomed the special program to mark the 60th anniversary.

"Advocating for gender equality is a priority for Australia. I hope this program not only promotes some truly fantastic Australian women's films and the creative exchanges taking place between our two countries, but also serves as an opportunity for the Republic of Korea and Australia to continue working together toward gender equality in the film industry," Raper said.

Women's filmmaking practices in Australia have a century-old history, beginning with Kate Howarde, actress and director of "Possum Paddock," and the first female to direct a feature film in Australia in 1921, and Lottie Lyell, the actress who wrote and directed, "The Blue Mountains Mystery," also in 1921, and was a pioneer in the film business with the establishment of Longford-Lyell Productions.

Twelve films directed by Australian women were shown at the SIWFF, which ran from Aug. 26 to Sept. 1. Paulette McDonagh's 1930 film, "The Cheaters," which gives a glimpse into the early works of Australian female directors, was shown with Korean musician Lee Joo-young's live performance.

The works of prominent filmmakers Gillian Armstrong and Jane Campion, from the 1980s, as well as more contemporary films by Jennifer Kent and Rachel Griffiths, were also screened during the SIWFF.

On Aug. 27, a forum titled, "Australian Women's Filmmaking: HerStories and Policies," discussed the wide spectrum and history of Australian film, centering on the roles and influences of women in the film industry there.

Lisa French, professor of the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University, Melbourne, presented the history of women in Australian film, as well as how female directors reflect their views and experiences in their works.

French directed a documentary short, "The Female Gaze: Women Directors Talk," which accompanied the publication of her book, "The Female Gaze in Documentary Film: An International Perspective," earlier this year.

"Each woman filmmaker will have her own individual gaze and specific worldview or aesthetic approach. When I refer to the female gaze, I'm talking about the representation that is produced by a woman who identifies as female and wants to communicate her gendered experience. This festival has a catchphrase: 'see the world through women's eyes.' And that's exactly what the female gaze is ― seeing women's reality from women's perspectives," French said.

"Since the earliest days of cinema, they have passionately engaged with every kind of subject, community aesthetic and approach. They work in all genres and styles, and have told diverse stories. Although the nation's cinematic output has been very masculine, telling stories of male adventures from male perspectives, today Australia has an international reputation for supporting and nurturing female filmmakers, and women practitioners have played a major role in international perceptions of the Australian film industry."

French explained how female filmmakers such as Armstrong and Campion, as well as Shirley Barrett, Sue Brooks and Cate Shortland, shaped Australian cinema, which is famous for offering women's perspectives on screen.

"Australia is a country that has been growing constantly through migration, and is characterized by a multicultural identity. Films by women over time have shown a keen interest in the stories of migrant outsiders struggling to gain a place in the world," French said.

Georgie McClean, director of the creative consulting company, Gist, who previously served as acting CEO of the Australian Film Television and Radio School, gave a presentation about "Gender Matters," which refers to the efforts of the Australian government film support, development and promotion organization, Screen Australia, to address the underrepresentation of women in key creative roles in the film industry, and to achieve a 50:50 gender ratio in the industry by 2030.

As Screen Australia looked into statistics on participation in the screen industry based on gender, they found that women were still as underrepresented in 2015 as they were in the 1970s.

"If you look at female directors of feature film, they hadn't really moved from around 16 percent participation in all that time. This obviously was a significant problem for the industry, because it means that the range of stories and a range of perspectives have not been told," McClean said.

They sought to understand the barriers stopping women from participating in key roles in the sector.

"The first of these barriers was identified as key decision makers, the people who hold the gatekeeping roles across the industry. ... Next, and very importantly, and I'm sure something that many of you will identify with, is the fact that women tended to take on a much heavier burden in carrying the responsibilities of domestic work," McClean explained.

McClean also noted that studies have found that women were lacking in the aggressive tendency that men might have to put themselves forward in certain situations.

"This was a little bit of a controversial finding or barrier, as it meant that, as Deb Verhoeven said, the onus was placed on women to change themselves rather than on the industry," McClean said.

Screen Australia came up with measures to support women in every stage and changes to the assessment criteria, which aims to have 50 percent of creative roles in the funded projects filled by women. It was a self-imposed target, rather than a quota.

Through mentorship, policies for increasing support for women's careers and efforts to remove unconscious biases from decision makers, the campaign garnered some visible results.

"I can happily say that in 2021, we were able to reveal that 57 percent of key credit roles were now held by women across Screen Australia-funded projects, which is really significant. Unfortunately, Screen Australia still doesn't hold all the leaders and can't control the industry entirely from where it sits. So there is still work to do," McClean said.


Kwon Mee-yoo meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr


X
CLOSE

Top 10 Stories

go top LETTER