Irish Film Board works towards gender equality
- Board working with industry bodies towards gender strategy
The Irish Film Board (IFB) has said that it recognises that major underrepresentation of women exists in Irish film. Gender inequality is an area of major concern to current board members and the IFB is currently developing a new strategy which will declare its strong commitment to gender equality.
Dr. Annie Doona, Acting Chair of the Irish Film Board said, “We recognise that words are not enough; actions are needed to address the gender inequality issue. The IFB is concerned enough to act and indeed to take a lead on this issue. Members of the current IFB board are active members of the recently formed Women in Film and Television Ireland and as Acting Chair of the IFB I have been in contact with that organisation to look at what action we can take together to raise the representation of women in film in Ireland.”
The IFB is in talks with various representative organisations in Irish film. The IFB has also been working with the Eurimages Council of Europe co-production fund, which has recently adopted a strategy on gender equality in the European film industry.
“The issue of funding for women filmmakers is an important one. The Irish Film Board is finalising detailed statistics in relation to gender equality in Irish film; it is important to gather and publish this information but we know what the statistics are likely to tell us. The next step is to actively discuss the best way forward in terms of positive action to redress the imbalance including the issue of access to IFB funding. We will be in a position to announce details of a range of actions around gender inequality we are proposing to take in December,” Dr. Doona added.
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