SO PRO & Contra II: Shortage of female workers and excess of hierarchy

The Swiss film industry is currently faced with a shortage of female workers, namely assistants to directors and producers on-set. Is this situation the result of an unattractive and gendered work culture, steeped in hierarchies? Are film crews’ current organizations a hindrance to career paths or are they allowing responsibilities to be distributed evenly? Should behind-the-scene female collaborators be granted with more decision-making power or should the integrity of an artistic project remain in the hands of its sole creator? Moreover, are international co-productions making new generations precarious?

As a preamble, the directors of the festival shared the annual gender statistics to follow up on their commitments on equality and diversity, after signing the SWAN’s pledge in 2019.

Spoken in French and German.

Guest: Solothurn Film Festival‘s director of operations Monica Rosenberg

Readers: SWAN’s executive committee members Katia Skila Durlemann, Ksenia Ignatenko and Cadenza Zhao.

To discuss the topic of shortage of assistants to directors and producers on-set, SWAN has teamed up with the Solothurn Film Festival and 23bis to host a panel discussion.

Speakers: Assistant director, team member of 23bis and creator of the podcast “Voies entrelacé·e·x·s” Mathilde Neau, producer Gabriela Bussman, production manager and SSFV’s professional groups’ delegate Michael Imboden, SSFV’s general secretary Nicole Barras, director and ARF/FDS’s committee member Géraldine Rod

Moderator: SWAN’s executive committee member Delphine Luchetta

Spoken in French and German.

Sound: Dexmusic
Image: 23bis