The NFB remains a leader in women's cinema. In 2016, it was one of the first cultural organizations in the federal public service to make specific, gender parity commitments. The NFB committed to achieving and sustaining parity (50 percent) by 2019 in terms of the number of films directed by women and in the budgets allocated to their projects.
In 2017, the NFB went even further in its commitment, this time aiming for parity in key creative positions for animated, documentary and interactive works by 2020. The targeted disciplines include editing, cinematography, screenwriting and music composition, as well as other creative activities related to animation and immersive storytelling, in which women are very under-represented.
By making these various commitments, the NFB is helping to increase women's representation and places itself as an industry leader.
The NFB confirmed this leadership role by taking part in the World Forum of Francophone Women in Bucharest, a major event organized jointly by Romania and the International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF)
The NFB also announced that it will share its bank of female talent, to which industry professionals can submit their portfolio and resume. To date, nearly one hundred women have registered. Their candidacies are now accessible online for the Realisatrices Equitables (RE), Femmes du cinema, de la television et des arts numeriques (FCTMN), and Film Fatales organizations, with whom the NFB will work to promote female talent.
In March 2019, three years after the launch of its gender parity initiative, the NFB announced that it had achieved its objectives regarding the number of productions by women and the share of production budgets allocated to women creators.
Results for 2018-2019:
* 48 percent of works in production were by women (38 percent by men and 14 percent by mixed teams).
* 44 percent of production budgets were allocated to works produced by women (35 percent to works produced by men and 21 percent to works produced by mixed teams).
We also note that the NFB's efforts to promote gender equality were highlighted by Women in Governance, a non-profit organization that works to advance women in all areas of society, which gave the NFB Platinum parity certification, the highest level, at its annual Recognition Gala in September 2019. The first public cultural institution to be recognized by this Canadian organization, the NFB is one of 48 organizations from across the country to receive certification, only 8 of which received platinum certification.
In 2017-2018:
Along with productions, the NFB studios launched initiatives in 2017--2018 such as the latest Cineaste recherche(e) competition, for the first time aimed solely at emerging women filmmakers in animation, which doubled the number of participants. We also note the Projet 5 courts by the Documentary Studio in Quebec, produced by five young women from the Abitibi-Temiscamingue region.
In 2018-2019:
Launched in 2018-2019, the Femmes des metiers series is one of the NFB's many initiatives to support its gender parity objectives. Organized in cooperation with the Institut national de l'image et du son du Quebec (INIS), Realisatrices Equitables, and Femmes du cinema, de la television et des medias numeriques (FCTMN), this series of public discussions seeks to encourage more women to have a career in the cinema industry by presenting four discussions that provide invaluable, personal access to the experiences of women artists.
The other projects the NFB led in 2018-2019 that specifically targeted women include Projet 5 courts, and the 10th Concours Tremplin. As part of its commitment to achieve parity in creative positions in the fields of music competition, cinematography and mixing, the NFB hired teams made up almost exclusively of women for several of its production projects in 2018-2019, including Because We Are Girls (Parce qu'on est des filles), Question period (Periode de questions) and Lake (Le lac).
Parity* in NFB production budgets is allocated to works produced by women. This performance indicator is an integral part of annual reporting at the NFB.
*Parity refers to equal representation between men and women. It is important to understand that the goal is not exactly 50 percent, but a degree of parity that is close to the indicator for works completed by the NFB.
| Name of partner | Type of entity |
|---|---|
Réalisatrices équitables
| Civil Society Organization (CSO)
|
Femmes du cinéma, de la télévision et des médias numériques (FCTMN)
| Civil Society Organization (CSO)
|
Women in Governance
| Civil Society Organization (CSO)
|
Institut national de l’image et du son du Québec (INIS)
| Civil Society Organization (CSO)
|
Despite the end of the three-year commitment to parity, it is clear that the NFB wants to ensure that these commitments are an integral part of its culture and methods in future years. There will be constant work to ensure the diversity of Canadian society is represented both in front of and behind the camera.