User:Espalding/International Women's Film Festival

History
The history of women's film festivals begins in the early 1970s during the second wave of feminism. The first international women's film festival took place in New York in 1972, and the occurrence of female film festivals soon spread to the rest of the world with festivals happening in Canada and Germany in 1973, France in 1974, and Iran in 1975. During the 1980's and the 1990's, the amount of international women's film festivals increased and today there are over 100 worldwide.

The public and professional image of a filmmaker has been shaped by years of exclusionary practices towards women. Although women make up approximately 50% of the world's population, less than 10% of directors in Hollywood are female. Between 2008 and 2022, 8.9% of film award nominations have gone to female directors. The women that are portrayed in the film industry have to fit a mold set by male writers and directors. Studies have shown that when women in film s differentiate from this mold - for instance, a female character that is ambitious or focused on their career - they are portrayed and perceived negatively. Female film festivals are more open to female narratives which provides a space that is nonexistent in the film making scene internationally. Women have played a significant role in the development of the art of film throughout history, but often have not been credited. Film through a feminist lens grew in popularity throughout the 1970s and 80s, and women began to amass more power in filmmaking around this time. The gender gap in film, however, continues to be a prevalent issue. In fact, the amount of women working on top grossing films increased by only 1% from 1998 to 2022. Additionally, countries that have gender imbalance in their film industries include Germany, Austria, Poland, Ireland, Portugal, Finland, Iceland, Italy, United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Creation of Female Film Festivals
Female film festivals were created to provide a space for female directors and screenwriters to show their work in a historically male dominated industry. Popular films are mostly written by men and female characters are inaccurately depicted. Independent film and film festivals are composed of significantly more female directors and writers than commercial film. Female film festivals not only seek to showcase women's work in film, but they also aim to show movies with feminist themes that are often lacking from other cinema.

Aichi international Women's Film Festival, Japan
The Aichi International Women's Film Festival, established in 1996, is a dynamic force in advancing women's roles in society and fostering international collaboration among women. The festival showcases films directed by women, both established and emerging talents, and hosts guest talks and symposiums to facilitate the exchange of ideas. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the realization of a gender-equal society through the power of cinema and dialogue.ialogue.

Another Experiment by Women Film Festival, United States
It promotes and showcases experimental films by women, often highlighting underrepresented themes and issues.

Herat International Women's Film Festival, Afghanistan
To celebrate International Women's Day, Herat hosted their first women's film festival in 2013. Roya Film House, the first female-led film company in Afghanistan, and other organizations and foundations helped to organize this film festival, in which it brought awareness to women's issues, including topics such as gender equality and sexual identity.

International Women's Film Festival, Australia
The International Women's Film Festival in Australia was first held from August - October of 1975 and was organized by the Sydney Women's Film Group (SWFG.) Film festivals occurred in each of Australia's states, including Sydney Women's International Film Festival, the Melbourne Women in Film Festival, and the Australian Women's Film Festival. Similar to many other women's film festivals, the film festivals held in Australia are aimed to showcase the hard-workings of Australian female directors and can span across a range of two to nine days, depending on the film festival. Additionally, many of those film festivals recognize the wide scope of definitions that "women" entails. The Melbourne Women in Film Festival, specifically, brings inclusivity to the people who identify as a woman.

The Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts, United States
Held in May 1976 in the Women's Interart Center in New York, the Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts was the first Black women's film festival. There were 5 people who organized the event: Faith Ringgold, Michele Wallace, Monica Freeman, Patricia Spears Jones, and Margo Jefferson, all of whom were feminist activists. The purpose of the film festival was to showcase films by black female filmmakers and to promote inclusivity of all African American women. This event was overlooked in Black women's film festival history as it made limited impact in the black film industry and failed to keep a record of the films that were screened.

Udada Film Festival, Kenya
It is Africa's pioneering new media festival, showcasing women's contributions in XR, VR, animation, new media films, podcasting, and gaming. It aims to elevate African women's stories and their global filmmaking impact. - October 2016

Festival Involvement
Though some festivals did not include awards in their first year, most festivals now have awards ceremonies. This is where a panel of judges, composed of many local and international filmmakers and critics, come together to judge then award films according to a category.

Categories may include, but are not limited to:


 * Best Picture
 * Best Dramatic Film
 * Best Comedic Film
 * Best Original Screenplay
 * Best Director
 * Best Cinematography
 * Best Animation
 * Best Documentary
 * Best Actress
 * Best Editor
 * Best Animated Film

Women's film festivals give out awards to support female filmmakers in continuing their work with the help of multiple organizations that sponsor these film festivals. One of the general requirements in order to participate in one of the women's film festivals would be identifying as a woman. This specific requirement is what sets women's film festivals apart from film festivals as the main objective of women's film festivals is to promote and encourage female filmmaking and feminist film criticism.