Film has a vital role to play in making society and democracy stronger, says Anna Serner. "If you can see it, you can be it."Until 2012, women in Sweden received only one third of government film funding (a pervasive trend globally). That year, Serner—who is CEO of the Swedish Film Institute (SFI)—announced that women would receive half of all public film funds in Sweden before the decade was out.She reached that target in just three years. Since then, film industry bodies such as The British Film Institute, Directors UK, Irish Film Board, Eurimages, Telefilm Canada, Screen Australia and more have fast-tracked similar strategies to diversify the voices telling their stories on screen.Read More: Ava DuVernay Is the First Woman of Color to Direct a $100 Million FilmInterestingly, Serner achieved gender parity without using quotas or women-only funding rounds. "It's better not to have special programs for women because they [become] the 'women's programs'," she says. Instead, the Institute demonstrated financial and developmental commitment to women's ideas and careers. The number of applications from women soared in response, dispelling several common myths in the process.Namely, that "'There aren't as many women who want to make films.' 'Women don't have enough experience,' and: 'Women aren't as eager.' Those arguments are common in all societies," Serner says, "so I was very used to them. Our strategy is to meet those arguments with action."Finish reading this article on Broadly.
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