The place of female directors in cinema remains very much in the minority in France, but continues to progress and has reached for the first time the threshold of one third of films in 2022, according to figures published on Wednesday by the CNC.
A total of 69 French initiative films were shot by female directors last year, i.e. a total of 33.2% of the films made, according to the Observatory of Film Production published on Wednesday by the National Center for Cinematography and animated image.
It is a “
historic high
” which testifies to a “
long-term feminization
”, according to the CNC.
The 30% threshold was crossed for the first time in 2021. In 2018, less than a quarter (23.6%) of films were still made by women.
“
The increase in the share of films directed by women (…) is mainly felt in fiction films
”, underlines the CNC, with 34% of films directed by women against 28% in 2021.
The animation remains very masculine
Another sign of the rebalancing at work, the average budget of films directed by men or by women is clearly reduced, even if most of the big projects continue to escape them: in 2022 there were three films at more than 10 million euros made by women.
“
These are encouraging figures, but there is still a long way to go
”, reacted to AFP Quentin Deleau Latournerie, of the 50/50 collective, specializing in the question of parity in the cinema.
Animation, in particular, remains very masculine, and male directors are more likely to be able to finance a fourth or fifth film than women, he underlines for example.