Stars At Noon

Source: Wild Bunch International

‘Stars At Noon’

Women directors made just 25% of the European feature films released theatrically in at least one European market between 2017-2021, according to a new report by the Council of Europe’s European Audiovisual Observatory. 

This is only a 2% increase from the organisation’s last study for the years 2016-2020.

Female directors are most prominent in documentary films with a 30% share, followed by live-action films with 21% and animation with 19%.

In other fields, the highest proportion of female professionals behind the camera was among producers at 34% and screenwriters at 28% - both a 1% increase from the last study. Female actors still made up 39% of leading roles.

The greatest gender disparity existed in cinematographers and composers where women only make up 10% of roles in both fields.

The study also found that women tended to work with other colleagues in the same role more often than men – with the average share of female directors per film only accounting for 22.4%.

The countries included in the study are all members of the Council of Europe which includes the UK.