![]() ![]() The work of women in the Australian film industry has consistently been dismissed with comments like: "Maybe your film just isn't any good" or "The best ideas are the ones that get rewarded."īut rather than blame women for this failure, it's also important to look at the structure of AACTA and its award judging.ĪACTA requires films to be submitted if they don't immediately pass selection criteria, the main clause being a traditional theatrical release of a minimum of 14 consecutive days. Of course, it's easy to jump to meritocracy arguments when issues of systemic bias crop up, as if we are taking the easy road by looking at the reasons that bias exists. This imbalance is most evident in traditional film, where women account for just 32 per cent of producers, 23 per cent of writers and 16 per cent of directors.Īnd, as recent research has shown, men are not only less likely to invest in films about women protagonists, they also tend to hire other men - perpetuating the cycle of women's exclusion from the industry. Sadly, this is not surprisingĭespite the success of numerous excellent programs to boost the number of women in the film industry over the years (film schools today produce roughly equal numbers of male and female graduates), the key decision makers in the film industry - who approve film funding and hire creative teams - are still overwhelmingly male. Of the 28 narrative feature films pre-selected for AACTAs Screening Tour, just two were directed by women. My peers and I at Women in Film and Television (WIFT) are fed up with the Sausage Party, and believe the AACTA Awards should be more representative of our diverse screen culture. And so we donned our snag suits to reflect the language that men often use to describe a party without enough chicks. I wanted to make a loud but jovial statement to highlight the glaring gender inequity of this year's festival. Since receiving my invitation to the 6th Annual AACTA Awards - ostensibly held in celebration of Australia's highest achievements in film and television - I had been thinking about pulling some kind of stunt. ![]() Despite the success of numerous programs to boost the number of women in the film industry, the key decision makers - and award winners - are still overwhelmingly male.Įarlier this year, as we sat in my kitchen, sifting through the dismal number of female nominations at this year's AACTA Awards, my dear friend and filmmaker Megan Riakos turned to me and said, "You know, it really is a sausage party, isn't it?" ![]()
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