I also came back from Berlin where I always get a sense that things are possible, and the art space is free and full of diversity and possibility and energy. I saw “Ophelia’s got talent” by Florentina Holzinger and I’m always so enthralled by her performances. This show was a true masterpiece of intersectional feminism when it comes to the casting. Everyone was represented. Art has the power to create worlds and to guide and empower and highlight the issues or the themes that we wish to shine a light on. A performance or a movie can also be about great fun, great silliness, but I find it incredibly inspiring if there’s a diverse team involved. 

We can uplift each other and we should empower one another. Even though we live in a system that is highly competitive and capitalistic and individualistic, we need to find ways to support each other. If one succeeds in getting their story told, it empowers everyone. And this is not only about “women” meaning hetero cis-gender women. We need to include everyone. I appreciate and respect the fact that so many women have fought for decades for equality and to amplify our voices. But times are changing. There’s climate change, there are multiple wars, and the right wing is raising its ugly head all over. Our government is making unbelievable, horrendous, racist and hateful cuts. We can’t afford to be close-minded as artists or as film makers or as feminists at a time like this. And if you’re not including queer audiences or queer makers in your working groups, you’re going to be left behind, because that’s the audience of the future. 

There are multiple tools right now for inclusion, anti-racism and more gender inclusive language and action in sets for filmmakers and artists of all kinds like Reframe in the US and this Equality Tool in WIFT, that are available for everyone. We should open our eyes to minorities works we may have not seen before. We should watch black filmmakers movies and tv-shows, we should watch Disclosure the documentary about trans representation on film and take the time to watch Code of the Freaks to understand the violent history of disabled people in Hollywood (and how it has affected us all).  We can take the time - a little bit every single day to educate ourselves about inclusivity and how to invite people in. It’s time to really think about how to invite and make the organisation or the workplace more inclusive for people from different backgrounds. And I want to say right now, WIFT is open for everyone in the industry (you don’t have to have a degree or a formal education in film to be involved). The way I see it, the organisation started from empowering women in the film industry and shining a light on the oppression and the very real struggles that we still face in the business. But the world has changed since then, and feminism has never been just a cis-gender white-woman movement. Transwomen (for example) have been in the forefront of revolutions leading to PRIDE and gay rights, and black and brown women have produced the most profound artworks and thinking in the past century. We don’t have an excuse to exclude anybody out. Let’s make it clear that the film industry is for everyone, and in WIFT everyone is welcome whether you’re a cis-gender woman or not. 

I want to end this first blog post on a hopeful note, because I am full of hope and I already see the change and shift that is happening, and in whose stories are being told, and I feel so inspired by that change. And I want to say to everyone, KEEP GOING!

Transcend the noise of the critics!
Find your allies and your peer groups, your communities. 
It’s time to engage these conversations outside of these rooms. What are you doing in supporting marginalized communities? It’s time to reimagine what “success” means. 

It is not enough to have a diverse casting, if the crew or the production companies etc have not had their education. Hire an expert! Hire someone to educate about inclusivity and how to make the work-space safer for everyone. Make your own movies, find a way to make your work, even without anyone’s approval.

Best, Sara