"Change? Yes, but let’s remain decent and honest"

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Contre-Champ AFC n°361

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Last summer, Women In Cinematography (a worldwide collective of female DoP) initiated the launch of a petition to sign and implement a Diversity & Inclusion policy at Camerimage, and eventualy open up to more diversity in its selection, juries and conferences. The petition received massive support, including from the AFC. After weeks of negotiation, some timid progress were made. But in early November, an article in Cinematography World magazine by Marek Żydowicz, the festival’s director, outraged the worldwide community of cinematographers. Many DoP associations have reacted, women and men deeply outraged by the thinking developed in this article. The BSC, because of its proximity to the festival, was one of the first to react,, wich prompted an initial response from Marek Żydowicz, followed by a statement to cinematographers where he apologizes... Some of us, female cinematographers and women of the cinema, wanted to react, from our position, to Marek Żydowicz’s words.

Since 1993, the date of the first Camerimage, 3% of films lensed by female cinematographers have been selected in the main competition!
Words can be mistranslated, but numbers cannot.
Efforts are being made, we are told, “but this must not be to the detriment of other productions whose artistic merit would be greater.”
The question would therefore be to define artistic merit according to resources available to female cinematographers in order to produce the image of a film, without even mentioning the difficulty of access to the job.

Despite repeated requests from societies, most recently Women in Cinematography, why hasn’t this percentage risen? The few women mentioned in Marek Żydowicz’s article are those most recognized by the industry. Camerimage’s selection in no way reflects the (very) slight increase of female cinematographers in productions worldwide.
Societal change is underway, and it’s up to festivals to accompany and support industry change, as the Cannes, Berlin, Venice and San Sebastian festivals have engaged.

The solidarity evoked in the title of this article is sadly ironic: to equate the arrival of more women in the industry with that of “a fanatical revolution that would destroy the cathedrals of art and throw away sculptures and paintings” is reminiscent of dark times.

It’s time Camerimage listened to the rhythm of the world and didn’t hide behind misogynistic arguments.
The high standards of quality promoted by the festival will only be achieved by accepting the diversity of viewpoints that make up the richness of our profession.