In 10 years, less than a quarter of French films released in theaters were directed by women

While we can rejoice that the upcoming Cannes Film Festival will honor seven female directors in official competition, there is still a long way to go for French female directors. According to a study by collective 50/50 released on Monday 24 April, over the past ten years, less than a quarter of French films released in theaters have been directed by women.

Thus, of the 2,876 films released in theaters between 2013 and 2022, only 23.6% were directed by women. ” If the share of French initiative films directed or co-directed by women reaches almost a third of films produced in 2022, we are still far from gender parity “, writes in a press release the collective of film professionals, which works for better equality between men and women in the sector, whatever their position.

Lower budgets for female directors

Among the striking data there seems to be a greater disparity depending on the genre of the films made. Therefore, the collective argues that the share of female directors of animated films remains very low, under 25%, unlike documentaries or fiction films. AND ” the more the filmmakers’ career advances, the more the 3rd, 4th, 5th films are privileges often reserved for men », 50/50 ratios.

Read also: 6 ways of acting to make cinema more inclusive and equal, with the 50/50 collective

These inequalities also have an impact on the wallet, as female filmmakers have to stick to small budgets. Thus, in 2019, Align by Valérie Lemercier is the most expensive film directed by a woman in the last 10 years, with a budget of €22.9 million. But by way of comparison, the group notes this Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets by Luc Besson, the most expensive film directed by a man, released in 2016, was close to 197.5 million euros.

However, the collective notes that since 2019, more and more French films have been eligible for the parity bonus, a 15% financial bonus awarded to shoots whose teams are equal. A ” device widely used mostly by female directors “, observes the collective.