WOMEN IN SPOTLIGHT
The Whistler Film Festival this year signals an intent to narrow gender gap in the film industry
Whistler film fest works to close gender gap.
Whistler Film Festival December 2 to 6 | Whistler
Tickets and Info: WhistlerFilmFestival.com
In the middle of the second week of shooting The Birdwatcher, which has its world premiere at the Whistler Film Festival on December 3, a shift in weather forced director Siobhan Devine to make a tough decision.
“At one point I looked out and it was dark and pouring with rain. There was a guy from the electric department on a ladder doing a light,” she recalls. “I said, ‘No no no! Nobody’s going to die on my set today. Get that man down.’”
That kind of thoughtfulness doesn’t reflect the old stereotype of the auteur: a ball cap-wearing overlord willing to drag his cast and crew through hell to realize his artistic vision. But then, as a woman, Devine is not your statistically typical director.
A recent study found that over a period of five years at major film festivals, films directed by men outnumbered those by women by more than two to one. And the disparity is even greater for women of colour.
By focusing on women in film at this year’s festival — and partnering with Women in the Director’s Chair, an organization that offers mentorship programs — Whistler is signalling a commitment to changing that gender bias. They’ve also invited Genie Award-winning actress Mary Walsh to be the keynote speaker. But with only eight of the 46 feature films showing at Whistler directed by women, there is still room to grow.
Devine believes that festivals and national funding bodies have a huge place in making change. Although she’s thrilled that Whistler is showcasing women’s work, she points to the recent decision by Screen New South Wales, Australia’s equivalent to the National Film Board of Canada, to aim for a 50-50 split between genders when backing new projects.
“If festivals were 50 per cent women filmmakers, and television was 50 per cent written and directed by women, I don’t think the world would end,” she says.
“I think it would be different, but it certainly wouldn’t end.”
With a script by award-winning screenwriter Roslyn Muir, the Birdwatcher tells the story of Saffron, a social worker and single mother played by Camille Sullivan. After learning her cancer is terminal, Saffron goes searching for a new home for her two children. Her last chance is her birth mother — a thorny, socially awkward ornithologist played by Gabrielle Rose.
The film came to fruition partly through an award from Women in the Director’s Chair, which provided $120,000 worth of industry services to a mid-career director working on her first or second feature.
Carol Whiteman, president of WIDC, is completing a dissertation on women in leadership roles within the film industry for her doctorate through Simon Fraser University. She says that at least part of the gender gap has to do with an “unconscious bias that we are all susceptible to in terms of how we picture leaders.”
“Even the most well-intentioned individuals can have some gender biases when it comes to making decisions about funding, who to hire, who they want to collaborate with, or even what quality is,” she explains.
Whiteman believes the key to fighting this bias is giving women tangible ways to excel within the industry. For their organization, that means offering skills training and leadership development as well as executive producer services.
According to Devine, putting a woman in charge has a positive effect that was visible on The Birdwatcher set. “We have a female composer, we have a female editor, the producers are all women, and the writer is a woman,” she says. “When you get women actually telling our own stories, it increases the number of women at all levels of filmmaking, which is a good thing.”
Both Whiteman and Devine hesitate to say that women directors tell different kinds of stories, but they do admit that when only men are in charge, there are blind spots when it comes to portraying the human experience.
For example, the lack of opportunities for women over 50 — a phenomenon that was called out in Amy Schumer’s memorable Last F---able Day sketch — tends to be less of an issue when women are doing the casting.
Sullivan says she’s already feeling the age crunch although she is far from that fabled expiration date. Recently, the 40-yearold was offered a role playing a character with a 30-year-old daughter. “That’s not even physically possible,” she says, laughing. “But I took the audition anyway.”
There are perks, Sullivan believes, to working with a female director. “Having shared experience, there’s a shorthand already for communicating things,” she says. “I think male directors have to work harder to get inside the head of the female character and then also decide how to direct an actress to get what they want them to do.”
All three believe that change is coming, but it will take time and increased visibility of women filmmakers and women’s stories. “My greatest wish is for the (Women in the Director’s Chair) program to not be necessary,” Whiteman says. “But I think it’s still very necessary in this culture and in this country.”