Women in Cinematography statement after Cameraimage CEO unfortunate comments connecting Gender equity with mediocrity
Women in Cinematography (WiC) – the group set up to call for better representation of women cinematographers through a change.org petition – have responded to Camerimage Film Festival founder, director, and CEO Marek Żydowicz, following a comment piece he wrote in a trade magazine in response to WiC’s petition.
“The film industry is undergoing rapid changes, affecting the cinematic image, its content, and aesthetics,” wrote Żydowicz in the opinion piece. “One of the most significant changes is the growing recognition of female cinematographers and directors. This evolution is crucial as it rectifies the obvious injustice present in societal development. However, it also raises a question: Can the pursuit of change exclude what is good? Can we sacrifice works and artists with outstanding artistic achievements solely to make room for mediocre film production?”
Żydowicz’s view has been criticised for perpetuating gender bias by implying that increasing female representation in cinematography compromises artistic quality.
Read here WIC response to Camerimage's CEO
This is a brief list of where positive change must happen:
• Full transparency of the selection committees; publish names and photographs.
• Creation of a meaningful selection policy to ensure fair representation in competitions.
• Creation of an advisory board to oversee and implement the original D&I policy
• Extensive cooperation with organisations representing minorities in the film business.
• Training management teams, selection committees and juries about unconscious bias and
how to use inclusive language and behaviours
• Revise your competition categories to diversify those eligible to submit. For instance,
introduce a mid-range feature competition so that it is not a choice between debut feature
or big budget, where minority groups have historically been excluded. We also suggest
opening the TV competition to include later episodes and not restrict submissions to the
pilot.
• engage scouts to actively seek excellent work from underrepresented groups