Out Takes

15 Mar 2016

Women in Film: Equality, Diversity and Parity

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Women in Film: Equality, Diversity and Parity

Worldwide, women continue to contribute greatly to social, economic, cultural and political achievement. But progress towards gender parity has slowed in many places, including the film industry. On the eve of International Women’s Day, the Out Takes team explored this years theme of ‘Pledge for Parity’ with a focus on the challenges female filmmakers face and their views on what it takes to get their work on the big screen.

We’re joined in studio by Melbourne based queer writer and director Mekelle Mills (pictured) to discuss her journey to getting her feature film ‘Zoe.Misplaced’ made (spoiler alert: it was lots of hard work) and her experiences within the local film industry. We also discuss her role as the creator of the Below Five Zero Film Festival and the part it’s playing in bringing innovative low budget films to our attention.

We also hear from award winning Australian producer Sue Maslin on Screen Australia’s ‘Gender Matters’ plan, a suite of initiatives that address the gender imbalance within the Australian screen industry, and from Canadian film and video artist Christina Zeidler, who was in town to discuss her first feature film, the lesbian romantic comedy about coming of middle-age “Portrait of A Serial Monogamist”. We look at her unique insight on the process of getting an independent film made in today’s crowd funded digital age, and as well as her enlightening take on the direct impact politics and leadership play in societies attitudes towards gender equality and inclusion.