Cannes victory for Schilinski: Women in film fight for equality!

Cannes victory for Schilinski: Women in film fight for equality!

Rostock, Deutschland - June 8, 2025 will be remembered as an important day for the German film industry. Mascha Schilinski, a talented director, was awarded the great price of the jury at the film festival in Cannes. The jury and the spectators impressed her film "Look in the sun". In her acceptance speech, Schilinski emphasized the need for young women to believe in their artistic visions in the film industry. But behind this success there is a difficult reality for many women in the film business.

The discussion about unequal film funding is more current than ever. According to the Federal Association Director, only 28 % of federal film funding had to be awarded to women in 2023. This shows that women in the industry have to fight funding more often. Many also receive lower amounts of funding, even if their films import more money. Laura Machutta from Constantin Film Berlin sees progress, but notes that large projects are still predominantly produced by men. It is particularly alarming that only 4.5 % of fictional TV productions in Prime Time are guided by a majority of female management.

challenges for women in the film industry

Schilinski had to work with a limited budget that was considered inadequate for the special requirements of her film. Although your project was supported by ZDF, it received no funding from the Berlin-Brandenburg media board. The director Saralisa Volm has had similar experiences and reported that she often has to fall back on crowdfunding to finance her films. Julia von Heinz, also a well -known director, criticized the perception that female issues were less interesting. The situation for mothers is particularly problematic, since costs for family -friendly rotation are rarely requested.

The results of the Bechdel test show that 90 % of the filmmakers exist, in contrast to only 50 % of the male filmmakers. This not only illustrates the creativity of women in film production, but also the existing prejudices in support. While Julia von Heinz demands an equal distribution of the film funding of 50 % for women, Minister of Culture Wolfram Weimer rejects a quota regulation. Instead, he proposes a bonus for female casts in central positions, a position that is supported by Susanne Stürmer from the Babelsberg Film University.

gender equality in German film funding

The gender -friendly occupation of promotional bodies is an essential step in the right direction. The current Film Funding Act ensures a balanced composition of the funding commissions, which should pave the way for the promotion of women in key positions. After each funding meeting, the FFA publishes data on gender participation in order to create transparency. A recently introduced directive change enables costs for family -friendly rotation to be included in the financing planning, including childcare on the set.

The University of Rostock has analyzed the increase in the proportion of women on the screen since 2017 in a progress study on gender representation in the German cinema. While women as protagonists are represented almost as often as men, their roles are often less diverse. The presence of older women in film productions decreases, while male characters have often been easier to break through roles and age clichés. These challenges, according to Dr. Maria Furtwängler cannot be overlooked despite positive developments.

It remains to be seen whether the demands for a fairer film funding and an increase in the visibility of women in the film industry are heard. For directors like Mascha Schilinski, it remains a task to raise the voice and to believe in the creative power of women.

Further information on gender equality in the film can be found in the reports of rbb24 , the study on the gender representation of Uni Rostock as well as "https://www.ffa.de/gender.html"> ffa .