A group of top European execs kicked off the penultimate day of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry program with a discussion about gender parity, ethical standards and whether or not quotas and inclusion targets can accelerate change in the business.
“I don’t believe in ticking boxes – I believe in finding ways to make diverse stories heard in a much more organic way,” said Elad Samorzik, a programmer for the Berlin International Film Festival. “I think it has to begin earlier, in a sense of having selection committees in festivals that are diverse so that the people who are selecting the films come from many different places and are more gender equal, which then creates interesting discussions about cinema and the result can be much more diverse. That, for me, is diversity of the programming.”
Speaking at the Festival Gardens headquarters during the CineLink industry Days program on Wednesday, execs weighed in on the pros and cons of quotas on a funding level and beyond, pointing to the success of the Swedish Film Institute’s “50/50 by 2020” initiative, an action plan led by the Swedish film funding body that successfully created gender parity in films it supported through a rigorous quota system.
“I think Sweden has been a huge inspiration to all of us, at least in film centers because in Europe, most of the films are funded with public money,” said Nataša Bučar, Managing Director of the Slovenian Film Center. “I strongly believe that we, as film funds – national bodies operating with public money – we, have a huge responsibility towards inclusion.”
Bučar said that while she didn’t believe in quotas, she did think that “non regulative” methods are the best approach. “When we did the statistics about gender in 2018 for Slovenia, we realized there was a huge underrepresentation of women – not only in filmmaking positions, but also in the commissions. This I saw as a very important directive and knew we had to take care of the balance of representation of women in selective committees that make the decisions.”
She continued: “I think it should be something conscious that we are aware of, but I don’t necessarily think we need to regulate this in terms of quotas.”
However, Valeska Neu of German-French sales outfit Films Boutique said she was “a big fan of quotas.”
“I think they are a useful tool to push things forward on a faster track,” she said. “I mean, look, it’s 2025 and we are still talking about this. Quotas, for me, are not the goal and they are not the end game. Quotas are just a tool to accelerate change.”
She continued: “At least on a production level and I think as well on a federal level, there should be quotas. Look at the selection in Cannes. Some people say that quotas will negatively impact the best films from being selected and ok, yes, maybe there is a short transition phase and there will be some things that will be excluded that usually will make it in. But who cares? In the end, it’s a thing to push things forward and if you push things forward, more females will submit their projects for production because they can see that things are changing. Now, they cannot see it, or they see it very slowly.”
When it comes to festival programming and the role festivals can actively play in helping buoy diverse stories, Samorzik admitted that sometimes it was “more difficult because we are dependent on what’s available.”
“But I think there is a point in every festival selection process where the program starts to come together and then you start seeing what you have and what you don’t have and you try to work out how to make it more diverse and how to make it more interesting and that point is very crucial,” he said.
Producer and screenwriter Marina Gumzi added: “This discussion that has been going on for the last few years is good in that it is making us become more aware of certain aspects of society and then we’re obliged by the sheer effect of being aware of that to improve our scripts and our stories and the way we work.”
She continued: “For hundreds of years, one group of society has been able to make films and now different people are making films and the notion of the quality is also changing and that is immensely interesting. There’s a shift happening all around.”
The 31st Sarajevo Film Festival runs until August 22.
