On 8th September, men and women came together to start the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), flashing their placards and badges that proudly proclaimed “I Stand With Women in Film”. This year TIFF organized a rally to accompany their Share Her Journey campaign, their five-year commitment that women deserve a fair representation in films.
The event had an impressive lineup of speakers, including actor Geena Davis; Dr Stacy L Smith, Founder-Director of University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative; actor Mia Kirshner, founder of the #AfterMeToo movement; filmmaker Amma Asante; Cathy Schulman, Producer and President of Women in Film; Keri Putnam, Executive Director of the Sundance Institute; actor Amanda Brugel; actor-filmmaker Nandita Das and Zavia Forrest, a member of TIFF’s Next Wave Committee.
Share Her Journey campaign holds even more significance in 2018 as the past year saw the reality of sexual abuse that hides even in the glitter and glam of the Hollywood film industry.
“Weinstein was not the first man, or unfortunately the last, to be doing what he did,” said Nandita Das. “We all have multiple identities; some given and some acquired and one identity I just can’t escape is that of being a woman. I am often asked how it feels to be a woman director and I tell them I have no idea how it feels to be a male director.” She explained how she has embraced her identity in an attempt to inspire more and more women.
Geena Davis recalled that when she started watching TV programmes meant for children, she noticed that there were far more male characters than female characters, which was unconsciously teaching young minds to be gender-biased.
“Why are we feeding young minds with a bias we then later work so hard to dismantle?” she said. Following this observation, her non-profit, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, has been collecting data on the representation of gender inequity in films. They also have been sharing the same with filmmakers and television programme creators.
Actor Mila Kirshner spoke about the need to develop a support system for women, who suffer from sexual abuse, which provides them with legal and psychological help.
“We have heard many leaders say, ‘We stand by you.’ But what do you mean?… My question is, when you stand by me, does that mean you are going to pay my legal fees because I can’t afford them? Does that mean you are going to offer trauma support, mental health support because it’s not available and not affordable?” she said.
When it comes to the presence of black women in the industry, filmmaker Amma Asante remarked on the fact that black women don’t even make up one percent of the industry. She stressed that if we are aiming for gender equity in films that the equality for women of colour in film should be a part of it as for the betterment of any part of society, the life of the ones who are on the lowest level should be part of the equation of ‘improvement’ as well.
H/T: Firstpost