SouthMed WiA Final Conference in Casablanca
The SouthMed Wia programme has come to an end with the Final Conference in Casablanca. The event, held at the Cervantes Institute on mid July, presented the project’s results and the sub-granted projects that contributed to achieve its objectives in the Southern Mediterranean area.
SouthMed WiA (2017-2019) is a project co-funded by the European Union that addresses issues related to the perpetuation of gender-based stereotypes and the under-representation of women in the audio-visual sector of seven Southern Mediterranean countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia. The project, which EWA network fostered in its inception, has funded eight initiatives with the aim of raising awareness of gender equality in the audiovisual sector, to strengthen the role of women in the media.
The conference consisted in two panel discussions followed by working groups. The first debate addressed the issue of gender equality in the audiovisual industry; EWA network was represented in the conference by Isabel Castro Martínez, who moderated the second panel “Enhancing the image of women in the audiovisual products to guarantee sustainable development”
In the panel , experts Isabel Castro Martinez (EWA Network), Rahama Benhamou El Madani (Cinéastes non alignées), Khedija Lemkecher and Carlota Alvarez Basso (Festival Cine por mujeres) opened a dialogue on media's influence in shaping cultural and social representations and how it can contribute to change the audiences' social and cultural attitude and perceptions
Two working groups followed each panel involving both the panellists and the sub-grantees, to discuss the topics tackled in the plenary sessions.
Furthermore at the end of the conference, Isabel Castro Martínez had the honor of launching the creation of the "SouthMed WiA: Women in Audiovisual in the South of the Mediterranean" network.
Concept Note : Towards Greater Gender Equality. The Role and Image of Women in the Southern Mediterranean Audiovisual Sector
The two days conference resulted in a key opportunity to discuss and to reflect on objectives, results and legacy of the project.
During the last years SouthMed WiA implemented different activities, including:
- Support to 8 co-operation projects developed by CSOs and SMEs based in the Southern Mediterranean.
- Coaching and training of sub-grantees and other audiovisual professionals, in particular women, to help them increase their skills in different relevant areas, such as pitching, access to funding and co-production, marketing and distribution.
- Research on the current situation in the Southern Mediterranean about women’s role in the audiovisual sector, to collect reliable figures and data regarding creation, production and distribution.
- Outreach activities on gender equality among audiovisual professionals on the role of women in the sector in the Southern Mediterranean to raise the awareness both of pertinent stakeholders and the general public.
- Launch of a SouthMed WiA network of women professionals in the audiovisual sector.
- Publications such as an informative handbook on gender-related opportunities in the audiovisual sector, curricula development guidelines addressed to film schools and curriculum developers, a collection of evidence about women’s role in the film sector.
Guidelines for a balanced gender approach in audiovisual training and education