An expert in the European audiovisual world with over 30 years’ experience under her belt, Graziella Bildesheim is known for having organised international training courses such as the MAIA Workshops. A senior expert for MEDIA, Eurimages and various Italian regional funds, Bildesheim is a member of the David di Donatello Awards and the European Film Academy, having served on the board of the latter from 2018 to 2023. She was elected President of the European Women Audiovisual Network in November 2024. After the annual EWA event held within this year’s Berlinale, Cineuropa chatted with her about the new challenges the association is facing and the projects it’s looking to develop.

How did you end up in the EWA and what made you take on the presidency?
Graziella Bildesheim: I ended up in the EWA almost by accident, in order to finish the mentorship programme after the long-standing mentor retired. I found myself immersed in an extraordinary environment, a world full of women with energies, skills and visions which enthralled and excited me. I was coming to it from long years spent on the board of the EFA, from managing my Maia Workshops training programme, and from experience in European consultancy, and I immediately felt the EWA to be a fundamental organism. The advocacy and research work the network initiated in 2013 was nothing short of groundbreaking: EWA’s analyses went on to form the basis of studies, political recommendations and legislative proposals on a European level. It was impossible not to want to be a part of it or to make a contribution.

What is the EWA’s main mission today?
The EWA was founded in Strasbourg in 2013 to tackle a clear disparity: women, despite their talent and training, are still struggling to gain recognition, access resources and feel represented in the audiovisual sector. These days, the EWA is far more than a network – it’s a movement. We connect women professionals from 58 countries – emerging or less visible regions - with countries which have a more structured, significant and long-standing industrial footing in the international audiovisual world. What sets us apart isn’t just the scope of our network but the quality of the relationships it produces: mentors, collaborators, co-producers, allies… A community not founded on competition but on shared ambitions and objectives. And on a desire for exchange, for experience, for advice and best practices.

What’s the current state of play within the sector?
Even now, the figures are a reminder of how much work still needs to be done. Women only direct a fraction of the films and series we see in Europe. In many cases, women are paid less than men, and it’s clear from production budgets that this is still the case for female-led projects. And despite the guidance given by many European directives, the reality is that certain boards of directors or funding bodies are biased towards men. There’s still an imbalance in festival selections. And this subtraction, these inequalities in accessibility, don’t just impact individuals, or women professionals who are having to fight harder in order to create and to work: this vacuum also detracts from the stories told by Europe, the narratives it exports, its powers of imagination and, consequently, its values. A cultural sector which is deprived of women’s voices isn’t really representative of Europe. Definitely not of the kind of Europe that we want, anyway!

What are the EWA’s most important programmes?
The annual mentorship programme, funded in the past by Creative Europe MEDIA, has become a reference point for the professional development of emerging female producers – so much so that many other networks and institutions have taken inspiration from our model.

There’s also the Series Accelerator, created in partnership with Netflix, which responded to the growing demand for skills in series production, furthering the principle of transferable skills to help female producers move more smoothly and with greater experience between films and series.

We also organise workshops, on-line hangouts, courses on the many different aspects involved in audiovisual professions: from pitching to distribution, from contract negotiation to creative leadership…

We’re now looking at professions which aren’t so extensively covered by traditional training programmes: editing, cinematography, set design, costume design… We’re working to create pathways which will help these female professionals stay up-to-date and come together on the European and international level.

Does the EWA also play a role in research and influencing politics?
Absolutely, and it’s one of the achievements I’m most proud of. The research I mentioned at the beginning of this interview gave rise to a report in 2016, called “Where Are the Women Directors?”, which remains the most exhaustive study on gender parity in the European audiovisual industries. It was the basis for further investigations but also, crucially, for examining the veracity of the data and statistics that we see. And, consequently, the true state of the various disparities. The report informed the Council of Europe’s 2017 recommendation on gender parity in the audiovisual sector, which is a significant political outcome. More recently, we collaborated with EURO-MEI/UNI Europe to produce one of the first in-depth analyses of the pay gap in our sector, offering measurable, concrete proposals. We want to redefine spaces and change the rules - widening existing spaces whilst working inside of them.

How many festivals does the EWA take part in each year?
We’re active in all the major sector gatherings: from the Berlinale, where we host panel discussions, workshops (this year, on artificial intelligence and mental health) and networking events, to Cannes, Venice, San Sebastian, Torino Film Lab... We’re a part of WEMW Trieste, the Sofia Meetings, Series Mania in Lille with a high-impact speed-dating event, and Tallinn. And, obviously, there’s the EWA Development Award. We also organise an extensive range of online activities: webinars, masterclasses, monthly sessions, practical seminars on co-production and impact producing… We want our associates to have constant access to support, expertise and contacts, no matter where they are.

What are your future priorities for EWA?
I’ve got a few very concrete ideas. Above all, as I mentioned earlier, I think it’s really important to have a clear overview of other fields in the filmmaking world, and to think about connections, exchange and training between those categories which we’ve only partly connected to date. I would also like to get our associates involved more horizontally: EWA is a grassroots association, and there are some exceptional resources and skills among our members. At our AI conference in Berlin, we had one of the world’s leading experts in Ethical AI in our audience – that tells you everything you need to know about the quality of our community.

And there’s also the importance of mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, which is an absolute priority for us: safe sets, sustainable professional relationships, healthy environments… Last but not least, I want to develop collaboration with film centres in the various European countries and in countries which are on their way to joining the EU, in order to improve living and working conditions for women in this industry in concrete ways. The EWA must act as a bridge – on a professional and a human level - and place ever greater emphasis on intergenerational exchange.