Objective of Improving Gender Balance in Danish Film

The Danish Film Institute ambitiously and actively strives to promote diversity. This includes better equality between men and women in Danish film, both in front of and behind the camera.

The constitution of Danish film going forward must reflect the society that surrounds it, also when it comes to gender. This will be done in part by attracting more women applicants, which in turn will enhance competition for funding. The arrival of all qualified applicants will help to raise the quality of Danish films.

It is the DFI's ambition to achieve equality between men and women without the use of quotas. This will be done through efforts that, to the greatest extent possible, are rooted in partnerships between the industry and the DFI.

The ambition to achieve gender balance will be realised

  • by a regular dialogue forum with the participation of the most important industry organisations

The dialogue forum will regularly meet and discuss initiatives, such as the numerous proposals already drawn up, including ideas for qualitative analyses, mentoring programmes and a common industry charter. The DFI will aid in publishing the results of these talks and in ensuring ongoing vibrant and open debate.

  • by all relevant divisions of the DFI incorporating and prioritising efforts that support this objective

This includes communications, where stories of women in film will be prioritised; film funding, where initiatives that contribute to avoiding unconscious bias will be prioritised, in turn increasing the number of female recipients of funding; festival efforts, where there is a heightened focus on the current imbalance in the representation of women artists; and in the DFI’s own invitations to panels, debates, committees, etc., where equal gender representation will also be an aim. These efforts will be integrated into objectives and annual strategy plans.

  • by monitoring data on gender and publishing these in annual statements

The aim is to obtain relevant and verifiable data nationally and internationally. This can be done only through cooperation with central industry organisations and on the understanding that they make data available to raise the common level of knowledge. Moreover, the industry, through voluntary programmes and self-declaration, should commit to taking on co-responsibility. Funds will be allocated to illuminate causal relationships between data in qualitative analyses.

The efforts will continuously be assessed and reconsidered.
Copenhagen, 16 December 2016

Contact

Kirsten Barslund
Project Manager
Tel. +45 3374 3526
kirstenb@dfi.dk