Revealed: The Top 10 Female Filmmakers One Step Closer to Joining The Female Film Force
After receiving over 1,100 inspiring pitches, and following thoughtful deliberation and discussion, Bumble is thrilled today to announce the 10 filmmakers making it through to the final round of The Female Film Force.
Courageous young women fighting on the battlefields. Fearless teenagers navigating womanhood. Stories set in dystopian futures, where women over the age of eighty are eradicated. Familial stories set in small Irish villages of yesteryear. Each of the shortlisted films introduces us to brave characters, of all ages, risking it all for their families, heritage, and beliefs.
The top 10 shortlisted names embody a group of diverse, driven women whose ideas are centred around Bumble’s core values of kindness, respect, empowerment, and equality.
"We have been overwhelmed with the level of innovation and talent that these ideas have demonstrated thus far," said Louise Troen, Bumble's VP International Marketing and Communications. "We have loved consulting with various formidable women across the film industry to decide on this shortlist and to invite to our pitch day at the end of July. We can't wait to meet you all. You're incredible. You've made us laugh and cry, and we're so excited to help bring some of your film ideas to life."
Ultimately, there will be five female filmmakers chosen to form The Female Film Force. These women will be fully funded to create their own short film as part of Bumble’s initiative offering grants to ambitious filmmakers across the UK and Ireland, benefitting from a £20,000 production budget and the chance to showcase their films in January 2019.
Told through such diverse mediums as documentary, animation, drama, comedy and fantasy, the stories are daring, bold and exhilarating. Bumble, WDW Entertainment, Women In Film & TV and a panel of industry experts are thrilled to announce the 10 filmmakers who will progress to the final round of The Female Film Force competition:
Alexandra Blue
Christine Hartland
Daisy Stenham
Emma Moffat
Emma Wall
Georgina Yukiko Donovan
Helena Sutcliffe
Karen Turner
Oluwaseun 'Shey' Osibowale
Pratyusha Gupta
The final five filmmakers will be announced early August. They’ll produce, deliver, and debut their short films in January 2019 at an exclusive industry event.
The Bumble Presents: The Female Film Force initiative was born out of the shocking imbalance we still see in the film industry today. At the BAFTA Film Awards in 2018, for example, only 20% of the winners were female. At this year’s Oscars only 15% of recipients were women.
"The fight for Women to have equal rights and opportunities has to be taken seriously," said presenter Edith Bowman, part of the judging panel. "The film industry has been in the spotlight for many months, and although there has been a great deal of change and positive steps in the right direction, there is still a long way to go. We need parity across the industry. We need to see more stories by women, about women and told by women. Initiatives like The Female Film Force will give women from all backgrounds the opportunity to tell their story and be supported by the film industry throughout the process to hopefully launch into the industry and/or develop further."
According to the nonprofit Women In Film & TV, women comprised only 18% of directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors and cinematographers working on the top 250 grossing films of 2017. This represents only a 1% improvement on 2016. While those statistics are saddening, Bumble is committed to fighting for equality in all industries, and we can’t wait to share the empowering, brilliant stories The Female Film Force propose in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned for updates!
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