French equality group launches #CesarSoMale campaign after female directors no longer receive awards

French gender equality and diversity group Le Collectif 50/50 has spoken out about the lack of representation of women at the upcoming César Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars.

The protest comes after no woman made it into the Best Director category in the nominations announced on Wednesday. The award ceremony will take place on 24 February in Paris.

Only a feature film by a female director: Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi’s controversial hit Always young – was nominated for Best Picture.

This result came as a surprise in some quarters, as a number of strong films by women directors were released in France that year, including Alice Winocour’s Paris memoriesthat of Rebecca Zlotowski other people’s childrenLea Mysius’ The Five Devils and French Oscar entry 2023 Holy Omer by Alice Diopt.

“Le Collectif 50/50 regrets the total absence of women in the Best Director category and their lack of representation in the Best Picture category,” the panel wrote in a statement issued Thursday evening.

“We dreamed of standing out at the Oscars, an institution that also shows an incomprehensible forgetfulness when it comes to the directors whose work has characterized the past year,” says the organ.

It alluded to the similarly poor performance of women in Tuesday’s Oscar nominations, where again no women made it into the best director category.

“The conclusion is harsh: while the media and public space now allow feminist voices to have their say, society is still stagnating!”

Founded in 2018 in the wake of the #MeToo scandals, Le Collectif 50/50 has been a driving force in the fight for more gender equality behind and in front of the camera in the French film industry and beyond. For example, it initiated the Gender Equality Charter of the film festival.

It currently has 1,078 male and female members from across the film industry.

The body was rocked last year by an allegation of sexual assault in its ranks, prompting the entire board to resign.

It recently revised its management and mission with the appointment of new co-chairs, film consultant Séraphine Angoula, producer Clémentine Charlemaine and producer Margaux Lorier, who recently won the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance. animal kingdom.

The collective said the César development was “a throwback” and a reminder of why it was formed in the first place.

“Le Collectif 50/50, in addition to all forces coming together, must continue to pursue its mission to promote greater equality and diversity within the film and television industry, as has recently been the case.

The panel noted that this year’s nominations were voted on by 4,705 members of the César Academy, of whom 44% identified as female.

The academy underwent major reforms in 2020 to ensure gender equality within its ranks after the body collapsed and the entire board resigned amid allegations of sexism and a lack of transparency.

As part of this action, gender equality was introduced in all the different departments of the organization. The presidency is now also shared by a woman and a man who are currently ex-Arte boss Veronique Cayla and hit director Eric Toledano.

Le Collectif 50/50 also expressed concern on Wednesday about the lack of diversity in the nominated films and talents.

“We are concerned about the very low representation of the diversity and affluence of our current society in the same list, and the lack of media hype it seems to have caused,” it said.

“Oscar Academy has been criticized for being too white. Too masculine this year. The Césars 2023 combine this double invisibility.”

The panel signed its statement with two hashtags, #CesarSoMale and #CesarSoWhite, pledging to continue its campaign to right injustices in the film industry.

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