the invisible woman

From dress codes to the pay gap, how TIFF is addressing the ‘excruciating experience’ of being a woman in film

Ask anyone about the 2001 caper flick Swordfish, and before a single word is uttered about the movie’s absurd premise, thoughts will drift toward a preposterously unnecessary sunbathing scene featuring Halle Berry. A year after winning a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dorothy Dandridge in a 1999 biopic she helped produce for HBO and a year before being awarded an Academy Award for playing Leticia Musgrove in Monster’s Ball, Berry appeared topless in what has sadly become one of the most talked about scenes of her career.

For a decade or so after, Berry’s work reached highs ( continued roles in the X- Men franchise) and suffered lows ( Catwoman, 2004). But despite a career box office gross that boasts more than $ 3.3 billion, quality roles dried up for her right around the time of her turning the big 4- 0. Most recently, she could be found on the low-rated TV sci- fi drama Extant, which was cancelled after just two seasons.

Berry’s career path, which would still be a dream for most aspiring actresses, is emblematic of the excruciating experience of being a female in the film industry. You’ll likely have to strip down in at least one role to “make it,” but then your body will no longer be deemed attractive enough for starring roles by age 40.

Even if you reach the commercial or critical height of your profession as Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep have, you’ll still have to suffer the Hollywood gender pay gap. Lawrence, the world’s highest paid actress, made $52 million in the 12 months leading to June 2015 – an impressive statistic until you learn Robert Downey Jr., the highest paid male actor, made $80 million in the same period. Only two film actresses made the cut for Forbes’ 2015 list of 100 top-paid celebrities.

Hope to transition into a behind- the- scenes gig? Good luck. In 2015, the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film reported that females counted for nine per cent of Hollywood directors, 11 per cent of screenwriters, 26 per cent of producers, 22 per cent of editors and a mere six per cent of cinematographers. A more recent study, just released this week, found that women in movies from last year were three times more likely than men to be shown in sexually revealing clothing or nude. This, despite only 32 per cent of speaking roles being given to women.

Those lucky enough to break through as stars in this environment have to deal with humiliating red carpet charades, such as E!’s Mani Cam (which Elisabeth Moss infamously flipped off at the 2014 Golden Globes) or the nauseating GlamCam 360. The media’s focus on the frivolous when it comes to women in film spurred the viral #AskHerMore campaign in early 2015, which encouraged people to call out sexist reporting that focused on women’s looks rather than achievement. The movement was supported by the likes of Reese Witherspoon and Sally Field.

Meanwhile, a group of women in their 50s was still barred entry from the Cannes red carpet later that spring because they dared to wear flats, apparently breaking the festival’s dress code. Even more absurdly, it was also reported that a film producer who had part of her left foot amputated was stopped for not wearing heels.

From the outside, film festivals can be a deceiving representation of parity in the entertainment industry. Women tend to be highly visible, decked out in glam gowns and glistening diamonds that make the red carpet look more like a Christmas tree decorating contest than a celebration of the arts. Actresses’ photos often run on the front pages of newspapers and magazines, where we praise them mainly for being beautiful (or mock them for wearing the wrong dress).

However, the reality is that this peacock parade does little more than mask the industry’s gender issues.

“This is a subject that’s on the mind of most major film festivals around the world, and you can see that there are conscious efforts to address the imbalance and give women more opportunities,” says TIFF director of industry Kathleen Drumm.

TIFF stands out among the world’s major film festivals as particularly female- friendly. At this year’s Cannes, a mere 15 per cent of directors in the main Palme d’Or competition were women and zero films in the festival’s midnight or special screenings were directed by women. At Sundance, 25 per cent of directors are women each year. The 2016 Venice Film Festival’s main competition sees only 10 per cent of movies directed by females.

Things are by no means perfect at TIFF, but the festival does lead the pack with 30 per cent of films directed by females and an industry conference largely focused on supporting women. Among other initiatives, TIFF has partnered with 13 women’s groups to create programming, created a one- on- one networking initiative exclusively for women, coordinated a round-table workshop with women filmmaker group Film Fatales and planned panel discussions about gender parity – one of which will feature Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“We’re very aware that women need the opportunity to be a part of these sessions, but not just as the audience and the subject matter. We want women to be speaking about these subjects,” says Drumm. “This year, the conference counts 55 per cent of its speakers as women.”

When TIFF announced its first juried competition in 2015, two of the three jury members were female. In 2015, half of TIFF’s programmers (who curate the films selected to show) were also female.

“Our programming team is very diverse and it makes a huge difference in the kind of product we show,” says Magali Simard, manager of film programmes at TIFF and co-programmer of the festival’s Canadian feature films and Short Cuts Canada selections. “We all like to believe that Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world – well then we should also have the most diverse lineup of films in the world.”

Simard is particularly encouraged with the progress she sees in the Short Cuts program, which has the festival’s highest percentage of female directors: “It’s basically at 50 per cent. To me that totally speaks to new generations doing better than the previous ones. The short films aren’t necessarily directed by young people, but on average they’re mainly emerging filmmakers.”

Those burgeoning filmmakers will start to make their first features in the next five years – a potential bright light at the end of the gender parity tunnel.

Simard insists TIFF programmers aren’t checking off boxes or taking part in any sort of affirmative action plan; they truly want to showcase the best films, and in Canada, there are a lot created by women. That’s no accident. “We’re getting there a bit faster than other countries are because films are a publicly funded medium in Canada, so the government gives money to filmmakers, whereas a country like the U.S. doesn’t. Countries that run on private money for film consistently end up producing way more movies by men.”

However, the really encouraging part is that outside entities – some of which you wouldn’t expect – are taking up women’s issues at TIFF. While most festivals boast champagne- fuelled parties that pit actresses against each other for the title of “who wore it best?,” Toronto’s festival is home to events that honour women for being more than just pretty faces.

Maison Birks, the Canadian fine jeweller, has led the way since 2012 with its annual Birks Diamond Tribute to women in film. “Without becoming political about it, we do feel as though men in film get celebrated quite a bit already, and men are very well represented already,” says Eva Hartling, Birks vice-president of marketing and communication. “There is some underrepresentation of women in the film industry, so we thought it was important to do something about that.”

Each year, the company partners with Telefilm Canada to spotlight 12 women for their contributions to the industry at a swanky soirée at the Shangri-La Hotel. Past honourees include Deepa Mehta, Sarah Polley and Tatiana Maslany. This year, for the first time, Birks also plans to honour screenwriters. “There will always be beautiful women on the red carpet, but it’s important for us to really make a difference. Actresses are often in the limelight and we tend to notice them more. Scriptwriters are a big part of movies and what we end up seeing on screen, so we decided it was time to include them as well.”

Homegrown indie film distribution company Mongrel Media will fête an array of films at their historic Queen West mansion takeover, dubbed “Mongrel House.” A respectable quarter of those films are directed by women. And it’s not easy for a woman over 50 to have an entire evening dedicated to her at a film festival, but last year the annual Artist for Peace and Justice gala honoured the humanitarian efforts of Susan Sarandon. Rather than talking about Sarandon’s hairdo or dress, fellow actors like Helen Mirren praised her for being arrested during a disobedience protest in 1999.

This year, beauty behemoth L’Oréal Paris Canada debuts its Women of Worth program with an event headlined by spokesperson and noted philanthropist Naomi Watts. The public is encouraged to nominate extraordinary women making a difference in their communities for the chance at one of 10 grants worth $10,000 to honourees’ non-profit causes or a grand prize grant of $20,000. “It’s not only about the awards and money though, it’s about creating a community for these women and helping them get support from the media and recognition from their communities,” says Stephanie Binette, general manager of L’Oréal Paris. “We don’t want to just be about beauty on the outside. It’s also about inner beauty.” These are striking words to be uttered by a beauty brand at a festival for one of the world’s most beauty- obsessed industries. It’s enough to make one think that maybe things are starting to change on and off screen.

“Some of the strongest films in the entire festival are directed by women. Some of the boldest films we have are directed by women,” says Simard. “The social conversations have been so loud, and necessarily so. We’re just starting to see the fruits of them.”

The gender wage gap, sexualization of females on screen and studios green-lighting projects that appeal mostly to males are still major issues. A woman director can add only so much new perspective to the cultural landscape if she’s still forced to work with one-dimensional female characters and eye-roll-worthy sex scenes. And that’s before even examining diversity: women of colour are even less likely to make it in Hollywood.

If any film festival is ready to tackle these issues in a meaningful manner, it’s TIFF. The festival has been innovative and willing to shake things up from the very beginning, and has the benefit of calling one of the world’s most diverse cities home. While it faces more competition than ever, leading the way on equality is one way TIFF can continue to shine bright.