A recent dip in female-led theatrical releases in the UK - back to 2018 levels of 26% reminds us that our work is far from over; that we cannot be complacent.
Below you can read about the research we conduct into gender representation in film and the wider industry, tracking the release landscape to present an accurate picture of investment in films by filmmakers of marginalised genders.
Here you can also find out about news and opportunities at Reclaim The Frame, along with curated film recommendations, filmmaker interviews, and creative responses.
To mark this important day we are delighted to support Trans+ on Screen, a new, and much-needed, directory representing trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming professionals in all areas of Film and TV, from(pre-)production to distribution. Founded by Alice Blanc (They/them) this year, the organisation not only looks to push for visibility and diversity behind and in front of the camera – but to change the current status quo with regards to opportunities given to trans people.
They operate as a business model which challenges industry norms, and distances itself from agency fees and tokenistic hires, in favour of a model based on care and empowerment.
They prioritise and elevate voices from a community that needs to be heard (and seen), to show a revolutionising way the industry can run.
Founder, Alice Blanc, works at Endeavor as a Materials Executive. They are also part of the BIFA Advisory Board and the Iris Prize Film Festival Committee, and currently studying Entertainment Business and Management at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Alice has experience working in the pre-production industry and distribution, in both film & TV.
ALICE SAYS:
“The importance of representation in front of the camera is key, especially when trans / non-binary people are given 0 opportunities to play cis characters. Even if it’s true that over the past years more trans stories are being told on screen; the same issue remains: trans people are still invisible either because the characters are played by cisgender people or the story is not told accurately or because the ones that receives accolades/awards are cisgender. Tom Hooper the director of the Danish Girl received many accolades, so did lead actor Eddie Redmayne; Boys Don’t Cry also won so many accolades and awards.
Trans+ on Screen not only looks to push for visibility and diversity behind and in front of the camera – but the organisation is looking to change the current status quo with regards to opportunities given to trans people. We want to give opportunities to trans people to upskill, get extra training and get the right support off-set and on-set. We want to see more trans professionals in the writer’s rooms, or giving the green light alongside decision-makers, or receiving extra funding for untold narratives: by working with us – organisation, production companies can only gain”.
Nathalie, composer and writer
It’s great to see real lives and stories of trans/gender non-conforming people become more visible in mainstream media. Though lovely as representation may be, our inclusion into these spaces of work behind the scenes is sorely-needed, and trans* integration should be highly sought after; as we inherently provide unique perspectives, invaluable knowledge, and experiences beyond cis-comprehension.
alve, story consultant
”It’s important to work both with representation in front of the camera, and with creating diversity and a safe work environment for trans and non-binary people (and other minorities) on set.”
Meredith (HMU)
What more can I say that has not already been said. Queer culture is birthed from the underground; assimilation into the mainstream is futile. Do your Google’s, search Trans+ on Screen and hire accordingly.
Io (sound designer, videographer).
Up until now, every post/crew group I’ve come across has been dominated by middle aged white men, who proudly scoff at any steps taken towards diversity or requests for female/lgbt crew members. This database presents a significant step towards the inclusion of trans+ people working in the media, as it allows for productions to safely recruit from within the trans+ community while being protected from harassment and bigotry.
Nathalie, composer and writer
It’s great to see real lives and stories of trans/gender non-conforming people become more visible in mainstream media. Though lovely as representation may be, our inclusion into these spaces of work behind the scenes is sorely-needed, and trans* integration should be highly sought after; as we inherently provide unique perspectives, invaluable knowledge, and experiences beyond cis-comprehension.
alve, story consultant
”It’s important to work both with representation in front of the camera, and with creating diversity and a safe work environment for trans and non-binary people (and other minorities) on set.”
Meredith (HMU)
What more can I say that has not already been said. Queer culture is birthed from the underground; assimilation into the mainstream is futile. Do your Google’s, search Trans+ on Screen and hire accordingly.
Io (sound designer, videographer).
Up until now, every post/crew group I’ve come across has been dominated by middle aged white men, who proudly scoff at any steps taken towards diversity or requests for female/lgbt crew members. This database presents a significant step towards the inclusion of trans+ people working in the media, as it allows for productions to safely recruit from within the trans+ community while being protected from harassment and bigotry.
Click HERE to learn more about Trans + On Screen
#TransResistance and #TDOV #TransDayofVisibility #transgender #trans
The course commences on 31 March and will run until end June 2022.
We are delighted to announce the 18 incredibly talented 6th cohort of our Filmonomics programme.
(as pictured, L-R): Afia Nkrumah, Bircan Birol, Cherish Oteka, Emily Everdee, Fozia Khaliq, Isla Badenoch, Jo Tracy, Katie Dolan, Lesley-Anne Macfarlane, Libby Potter, Lidz-Ama Appiah, Liv Little, Lizzie Mackenzie, Lowri Roberts, Meloni Poole, Mo Wani, Rachel Ramsay, Zoe Dobson.
We are excited, and privileged to be a part of their journey, bringing the group together from across the UK for peer-to-peer learning and support, as well as introducing them to a stellar line up of coaches and speakers, including Filmonomics alumni, led by course facilitator Kate Gerova. It’s exciting to imagine the personal and professional impact that will come from our time together as part of this programme
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The course will be led by: Kate Gerova (course facilitator / Mustard Studio), Melanie Iredale (Birds Eye View director) and Simone Glover (Birds Eye View Training Manager).
Speakers and coaches will include: Alison Thompson (Co-President at Cornerstone), Anna Seifret-Speck (Script and Story Editor), Annette Corbett (Leadership Coach), Ashanti McIntosh (Head of Acquisitions at Studiocanal), Carmen Gray (Journalist/Film-Critic), Caroline Goyder (Coach/Author), Cate Kane (Co-director of Global Acquisitions at Mubi), Charles Gant (Film Journalist/Critic), Delphine Lievens (Head of Distribution at Bohemia Media), Droo Padhiar (Head of Marketing at Dogwoof), Georgie Padget (Producer and Co-founder of Caspian Films), Julia Short (Trainer/Consultant), Kate Leys (Story Editor), Lia Devlin (Managing Director at Altitude), Lucy Jones (Exec Director of Comscore Movies), Marilyn Milgrom (Actor/Producer/Script consultant), Mia Bays (Head of BFI Film Fund), Micaller Walker (CEO & Founder of Dark Matter), Paul Sng (Writer/Filmmaker), Stephen Follows (Film Industry Analyst), Teanne Andrews (Co-founder of We Are Parable), Tejinder Jouhal (Director of Marketing & Distribution at Hanway Films), Thembisa Cochrane (Producer and Co-founder of Caspian Films), and Wendy Mitchell (Festival Consultant).
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The impact is tangible – a small selection of alumni include: Thembisa Cochrane and Georgina Paget made THE COLOUR ROOM for Sky (2021) which was on the programme. Camilla Wren and Shirine Best met on the programme and are now 2021-22 BFI Vision Awardees with their new company. Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor was on the programme in 2018 and went onto produce BLUE STORY and BOXING DAY. Christiana Ebohon-Green and Darcia Martin are two directors blazing a trail in TV who have directed CALL THE MIDWIFE, SOON GONE and VERA to name a few. Helen Jones (producer) Naomi Wright executive producer) Silver Salt Films’ first feature film CENSOR which premiered at Sundance and Berlin 2021 and subsequently went on general release in the US and the UK. Paul Sng developed BIFA winning POLY STYRENE I AM NOT A CLICHÉ on the programme. Roger Williams backed by Film Cymru and BFI went onto produce THE FEAST.
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AFIA NKRUMAH
Afia is an alumna of Edinburgh TV Festival for their Ones To Watch Talents, a director in film and TV drama, credits include Call The Midwife (BBC), Coronation Street (ITV), A Place Of Safety (All 3 Media). Afia has written and directed short films that have screened at national and international film festivals, including Shadow Man supported by Film London.
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BIRCAN BIROL
Bircan is a documentary filmmaker based in Scotland. She began filming journalistic documentaries and covering news about human rights issues in Turkey. After she moved to Scotland, she fell in love with creative documentaries and multimedia storytelling. Bircan directed her first short creative documentary ‘My name is Anik’ with the Scottish Documentary Institute in 2019. Since then, she has been involved in multiple creative documentary and multimedia projects. As well as documentaries and her own projects, she works as a facilitator in participatory filmmaking. She is currently working on her first feature documentary Your Honour and works on other short multimedia projects.
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CHERISH OTEKA
Cherish is a documentary filmmaker who aims to challenge false narratives and provide a platform for often-marginalised communities to tell their stories on their terms. They are the winner of the 2022 BAFTA Award for Best Short Film, The Black Cop. A producer/director with visual flair, strong editorial judgement and a talent for storytelling. They have been selected on prestigious TV and documentary talent schemes including; Edinburgh TV Festival’s Ones to Watch, Sheffield Doc Fest’s Doc Next and The Grierson Trust’s Doc Lab. As well as this, they won UKTV’s Rising Star Award in 2016. They also independently Produced, Directed and Edited A Man Called Dad which was broadcast on London Live, screened at BAFTA and BFI and won Best Documentary at the Movie Screen and Video Awards 2017.
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EMILY EVERDEE
Emily is an independent film producer from Doncaster, now based in Buckinghamshire. Recent short films include BIFA-nominee Mandem (John Ogunmuyiwa) which screened at BFI London Film Festival, and audience award-winner The Call Centre (Louisa Connolly-Burnham). Through her company Everdee Media, Emily is developing compelling, audience-facing feature film and TV projects from distinctive, authentic voices in a range of genres.
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FOZIA KHALIQ
Fozia is a Producer and founder of Public Display of Affection Films, an emerging Film and TV production company showcasing ambitious and authored storytelling from across the globe. In 2021, BFI awarded Fozia development Funding to produce the feature adaptation of the play BRAIDS by Olivia Hannah. Her short film HOME (Dir, Ndrika Anyika, Wr, Jackie Okwera) has been selected for numerous international short film awards and won the Best English Short Film at the Short Film Awards 2021. Fozia is currently producing her second short film SKIN OF WATER starring Nargas Rashidi and Directed by Iranian-British filmmaker Somayeh with Ridley Scott’s Black Dog Films.
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ISLA BADENOCH
Isla is a writer, director and producer based in the rural borderlands of the three shires, UK. As a self-taught documentary filmmaker, her atmospheric films explore unexpected stories of hidden lives, screening at multiple Academy and BAFTA-qualifying festivals, with broadcast internationally and online. Isla is currently in development of several short films and her debut feature.
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JO TRACY
After working as assistant editor at Virago Press, Jo moved to script editing at the BBC before becoming Head of Development at The Bridge Production Co, then at Norma Heyman’s Pagoda Film & TV. After having children Jo worked as a freelance script editor, before joining SHY PUNK as Development Producer in 2019.
KATIE DOLAN
Before focusing on film and television, Katie ran music video and content at Caviar TV, as well as heading up Black Dog Films; the music, arts, and documentary division of the Ridley Scott Group. Katie has worked with global stars such as Dua Lipa, David Bowie, Elton John, Coldplay, Beyonce, Billie Eilish. The content she produced has garnered many billions of views, + awards at top industry festivals such as the Cannes Lions, D&AD, UKMVAs, Shots, MTV, Brits, etc. As an independent producer and executive producer (since 2019), Katie works with award-winning filmmakers across both film and television. Current partners include Film London (BFI), Ffilm Cymru BFI Northern-Hub, BBC Films.
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LESLEY-ANNE MACFARLANE
Lesley-Anne is a producer based in the UK and the Caribbean. In production for the documentary, “1990”, she is also currently in post-production on her first feature film “Little English; and her latest short film “Immune” is on the festival circuit and has won several awards. She was a member of BFI Network X BAFTA Crew 2020 and a mentee in the ScreenSkills Pro-Create Mentoring Programme.
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LIBBY POTTER
My name is Libby Potter, drama producer and mother of 4. I started as a reporter and producer for BBC News in New York just before 9/11. I came home to the UK and worked as a reporter and presenter for BBC 2 & BBC 3, culminating in three years as co-host of The Money Programme. In 2019 I found a way to return to my first love, storytelling, and Shy Punk was born.
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LIDZ-AMA APPIAH
I started as a journalist before moving into factual series and long-form documentaries. I honed her narrative and production talents over twenty years at WarnerMedia, NBC Universal and Bloomberg Media. Currently, I am producing a slate of independent projects with the most recent feature film I Executive Produced, QUEEN OF GLORY (from actor and first-time director Nana Mensah). It received its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2021 with Magnolia Pictures representing worldwide sales. 2022 saw the movie receive two Independent Spirit Award nominations after touring over 30 international film festivals and winning numerous awards. With theatrical distribution secured for North America, the UK and additional territories across Europe, Africa and Asia.
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LIV LITTLE
Liv is an award-winning writer. She started her career on Channel 4’s TV production trainee scheme and as the founder of gal-dem. Her debut novel Rosewater will be published in 2023. Liv was one of BBC Studios’ writers in residence for 2021, where she developed an original pilot for a queer conspiracy thriller. In 2018 she worked at the BBC as a digital executive creating a content strand focusing on hidden British history. Liv’s experience also spans audio, curation and presenting.
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LIZZIE MACKENZIE
Lizzie is a documentary director with a kinship towards rebellious characters who live life on the edge of society. After 7 years of developing trust with her protagonist, her debut feature, The Hermit of Treig, followed an elderly hermit in the Scottish Highlands over multiple years of his life. The meditative film won the prestigious audience award at Glasgow Film Festival (March 2022) and was chosen as part of BFI’s showcase ‘The Camera Is Ours: Pioneering British Female Film Makers’. Lizzie’s fascination with spirited elderly rebels continues as she now develops her second feature, exploring the female bond with horses and what has been lost through the process of domestication.
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LOWRI ROBERTS
Lowri is a BAFTA Cymru winning short filmmaker from North Wales, now based in Somerset. She works as Head of Productions at Rapt, as Maisie Williams’ producing partner, where they’re in development of a number of feature films and a series.
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MELONI POOLE
Meloni is an award-winning writer/director whose films have been commissioned by Film4, BFI, Channel 4, Creative England, Screen Yorkshire and the Arts Council of England. She was selected for Creative England’s I-Shorts, Creative England, BFI and BBC Films I-Features and the prestigious Guiding Lights mentoring scheme. Her debut feature, Thirst was shortlisted for Sundance Screenwriters Lab and in 2021 selected for Cannes, Frontieres, co-production market.
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MO WANI
Mo transitioned from the corporate sector in 2019 with the aim of writing and producing films that elicit empathy, change perspective and inspire potential so we can close the gap on what divides us. Using transferred skills and a wealth of experience she produced the multi-award-winning short Immune in 2020 and is currently developing two female-led features.
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RACHEL RAMSAY
Rachel is a documentary filmmaker with a background in news journalism and factual TV. Her work is driven by character-led storytelling, a cross-cultural approach and an ambition to uncover repressed and forgotten stories, writing their protagonists back into history.
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ZOE DOBSON
Zoe is an accomplished director of attention-grabbing documentaries and award-winning scripted drama. Zoe started out directing the seminal T4 agit-prop series Wise Up, for which she won a Bafta. She has gone on to make a raft of successful documentaries including the International Emmy nominated series, Why do we Dance? and the acclaimed film on the band Duran Duran: There is something you should know, which was acquired by BBC, Netflix and Showtime, Zoe’s directorial scripted debut The Cunning Man about a rural practitioner of the dark arts was Bafta long listed, officially selected at 4 Oscar Qualifying and won four Best Director awards.
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FURTHER INFORMATION
About Birds Eye View
Birds Eye View brings a wider perspective of the world by championing cinema by women & non-binary filmmakers.
Our mission is to advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion in film by fostering a community for those who make, show, release and watch them.
We do this through:
Increasing the impact of, and developing the conversations around, films by women and non-binary people.
Increasing, developing, and diversifying audiences by making the cinema experience safe, accessible, relevant and inclusive.
Increasing equal access and opportunities within the film industry for women and non-binary people.
We define films by women as directed (or co-directed by, with 50% female credit or more). Our events, however, are for everyone of all genders to enjoy.
What We Do:
Reclaim the Frame – developing audiences and building communities for films by women & non-binary filmmakers by bringing people together for events and conversations through a network of 19 plus cinemas across the UK.
Training / Mentoring – Continued Professional Development (CPD) courses and workshops for women and non-binary filmmakers/screenwriters, and film distribution/exhibition professionals to enable professional growth and, in turn, to address their historical under-represention as creatives and gatekeepers within the sector.
Advocacy – using our voice and platforms to agitate for equity, diversity and inclusion in cinema, to support others doing good work in this area, and to foster community.
About ScreenSkills
ScreenSkills is the industry-led skills body for the screen industries – film, television (including children’s, unscripted and high-end), VFX, animation and games. We are supporting future innovation and growth across the whole of the UK by investing in the skilled and inclusive workforce who are critical to the global success of the screen sector. We are funded by industry contributions to our Skills Funds, by the BFI with National Lottery funds awarded as part of its Future Film Skills programme to help people get into the industry and progress within it, and by Arts Council England.
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The Oscar dust has settled and we’re left balancing the positive moments from those paving the way for representation and inclusivity in cinema with this year’s significant setbacks.
Sian Heder’s CODA won Best Picture, the third film to win helmed by a female director. The award was presented by Liza Minelli and Lady Gaga who shared a touching “I got you” moment almost 50 years following Minelli’s Best Actress win for CABARET. Heder also scooped Best Adapted Screenplay, the seventh woman to do so, and a first for a story told partially in Sign Language – “a beautifully cinematic language” as Heder referred to it. Following fellow cast member Marlee Matlin’s win in 1987 for CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD, CODA’s Troy Kotsur became the second deaf actor to win an Oscar, saying “this is for the deaf community, the CODA community, and the disabled community. This is our moment.” Catch it on Apple TV+ (with SDH/AD) here.
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We’re also celebrating Ariana DeBose’s win for Best Supporting Actress (for WEST SIDE STORY) – the first openly queer woman of colour and second Latina to ever win an acting Oscar. DeBose paid tribute to “the divine inspiration that is Rita Moreno” who won an Oscar for the very same role 60 years earlier. In her speech, DeBose spoke of being “an openly queer woman of colour, an Afro-Latina who found her strength in life through art” and urging “anyone who has ever questioned your identity, or you find yourself living in the grey spaces, I promise you this: there is indeed a place for us”
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Jane Campion became the third woman to win Best Director for the celebrated THE POWER OF THE DOG. Catch it on Netflix (with CC/AD) here. Of her win she said: “I’m very proud to have won tonight for my film and my crew and my cast, but also just to be another woman who’s going to be followed by a 6th, 7th, 8th. Very excited that this is moving fast now. We need it. Equality matters.” It shows an optimism for the future but let’s not forget Campion is only the seventh female director to be nominated in the Academy Awards’ 94-year history.
While these were some of the positive moments from this year’s Oscars, overall the bigger picture requires scrutiny. There was a regression in nominations for women from 30% in 2020, 32% in 2021 down to 27% in 2022, and to further the disappointment, 12 of which were for THE POWER OF THE DOG alone.
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The event itself made positive steps to be inclusive of D/deaf and disabled audiences, including the use of live audio description and closed captions; however, though ASL interpretation was available throughout online, the only speeches interpreted on TV were those relating to CODA rather than for all.
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We can reflect on this year’s Oscars and celebrate the progress made by those paving the way for greater representation and inclusivity in cinema.
Here’s hoping for future Academy Awards with greater diversity of nominations for women, where neither misogynoir nor physical assault on stage is tolerated, with greater access and inclusion for all, and as for Best Director wins for women, a “6th, 7th, 8th…”
