Although Paola Cortellesi, with her debut film C'è ancora domani (There's Still Tomorrow), has topped all the categories examined in the year 2023, the fourth Gender Balance in Italian Film Crews Report realised by the Graduate School of Media, Communications and Performing Arts (Alta Scuola in Media, Comunicazione e Spettacolo ALMED) for the Ministry of Culture-Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual tells us that it will still take 20 years to achieve gender equity in directing and more than 50 to have an equal number of female directors and cinematographers in Italian film productions.
A very detailed analysis, with lights and shadows, which was presented at the Venice Film Biennale on Tuesday 3 September by Mariagrazia Fanchi, Director of ALMED of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
“An improving scenario”, noted Professor Fanchi. “However, there is still an important gap to be bridged: the share of female professionals directing feature films in 2023 is 22%; between 20 and 30% that of scriptwriters, editors and special effects supervisors; at 12% the percentage of directors of photography and still below the 10% threshold that of music directors and sound designers; costumes and make-up remain predominantly female professions”.
The increase in the number of female directors has also led to an increase in the share of Italian productions directed by women or by female-dominated teams: 19% in 2023, + 3 percentage points compared to the previous year. 2023 was also characterised by the clear overtaking of the percentage of female-directed films distributed in cinemas: 76% compared to 69% of male-directed films. The average box office also increased significantly, as a consequence of the success of Cortellesi's film: €683,325 compared to €247,257 on average for male-directed films.
It should also be noted that in 2023 female-directed films received on average more award nominations and won more awards than male-directed films: respectively 2.6 nominations compared to 1.5 for male-directed films, and 1.3 compared to 0.9 for male-directed productions.
The trends that have already emerged in previous reports remain unchanged: the tendency of women to work more in low-budget productions, the increase in the presence of women in female-directed production initiatives, and the elective link with documentaries.
It is often also, or above all, a question of budget. 25% of women-led projects are made with amounts of less than €200,000, while the percentage of high-budget projects (over €3,500,000) directed by women remains lower than those directed by men.
Women-led projects offer more opportunities for female professionals, especially in male-dominated roles. The lower availability of resources for female directors is an obstacle to the possibility of trying their hand at fiction genres, which are typically more expensive than documentaries. However, female-directed works in the thriller genre have increased in the last two years, and there are even horror films. 2021 to 2023, compared to 2017-2019, indicates a trend towards greater balance in both female- and male-directed works, with the exception of music and sound.
At the presentation held at the Hotel Excelsior as part of the Annual Seminar in Gender Equality and Inclusivity in the Film Industry, Andrea Del Mercato, Director General of the Biennale, also spoke. In introducing the round table, he emphasised the successes achieved by Italian productions, pointing out that female-led works compete more and win more prizes. Certainly, those with higher budgets achieve greater results at the box office. “The commitment for the future will be to increase the support given to female-led projects and to encourage female participation in both creative and technical roles and help the development of skills by female professionals. But also to give more visibility to projects dedicated to inclusion and diversity, to the best practices that are on the market”.
Mario Schwetz, Head of the Council of Europe office in Venice, and Enrico Vannucci, Deputy Executive Director of Eurimages, the fund that supports the co-production and distribution of European films, emphasised that the gender gap in the film professions is not just an Italian problem, so much so that it has long been the subject of policies and actions at European level aimed at mitigating it.
On the circularity of productions, a look at the box office of female directors was proposed by Domizia De Rosa (President, Women in Film, Television & Media Italia), Barbara Bladier (Distribution Manager, Vision Distribution), and Antonietta De Lillo (Director, Author, Founder of marechiarofilm). They confirm that the trend in the presence of women in cinema is positive at European level; that debut works by well-known female directors have fared better, such as those of Paola Cortellesi, Alice Rohrwacher, Liliana Cavani and Pilar Fogliati.
They all agreed that cinema is a very special industry because it creates prototypes, it is always a handcrafted project with a large distribution. And then, going back to Cortellesi's success, much importance was given to the theme, the right moment and the packaging, i.e. the beauty of the film. Then comes distribution and who governs it, where in the top roles the male presence exceeds 90%.
Many data, many readings, but one unequivocal consideration: women must be trusted, brought to the screen and let the audience judge.
