March 8, 2023
March 8 has been transformed into a day to commemorate, reflect and leave a historical record of how International Women’s Day has been shaped in our sector.
On this day CinemaChile wanted to pay tribute to the Women of Chilean Audiovisual who leave their mark, not only in the most visible areas, but especially, in the technical part of national productions.
A Chilean audiovisual that grows day by day and without doubt has been the reason for changes, new connections and important international recognition, such as the 88 awards received last year (of a total of 219 obtained in Festivals and Markets ) which correspond to productions directed and produced by women. The professionals whose faces are not seen, but who are there, also have a great impact on this huge list…
We invite you to make this tour and recognition together. It is always a good time to discover who is behind the camera!
A UNIVERSAL MAKING-OF
Different studies such as that of FIACINE (Ibero-American Federation of Academies of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences) have been demonstrating statistically the gap that exists between men and women in the Audiovisual world of Latin America, for example, in the 2021 Report ( of a total of 13 countries, including Chile) Directors were only 19% women, 34% were producers and only 23% were writers. The only categories in which there was more equality correspond to Acting with 45.8%, Costume Management with 60.9% or Makeup and Style with 50% of women. However, in Direction of Photography it is down to a female representation of 6.9%, Sound and Original Music 7% and Special Effects 9%.
This scenario is repeated in European countries such as Spain where the CIMA report of 2021 (Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media) showed that women represented only 32% of the total professionals in the film sector compared to 68% of men.
During the last period we have seen that in Chile gender gaps are still present. In this context, the analisis and seeing the triumph of great productions that have been directed, produced and managed from the technical side by women, encourages us to witness the future as an opportunity for change and new opportunities needed to strengthen the cultural sector as a whole.
It will not be possible to understand the Chilean audiovisual of the future without the feature films, short films and series in which each of these women worked.
According to the international film catalog 2022 and the international series catalog 2021-2022 of CinemaChile, more than 200 Chilean professionals have worked on the different productions of either film or television in the last two years. Within their performance it is also important to indicate that many of them hold more than one position in the productions they have worked.
They make up an opportunity for change for the new generations and voices that enter this industry and that at the same time seek to remove gender gaps, more visibility and female leadership in the Chilean audiovisual value chain.
Often we lose focus and do not look behind the scenes. According to the CinemaChile statistics 122 women were part of national productions from the technical part in the International Film Catalog 2022. In the breakdown of the statistics we can see that the positions with more occupation were in Art Direction (40); Editors (24); Scriptwriters (23); Directors of photography (18); Sound (13) and Animation Directors (4).
Complementing the study and based on the same occupations in the 2021-2022 TV Catalog, a total of 60 women were employed in the roles of Scriptwriters (24) Art Directors (14) Editors (9) Directors of Photography (6) Animation Directors (4) and Sound (3).
In total there were 171 women from the technical part who appear in such roles in both catalogs distinguishing themselves by their great work in more than one opportunity and promoting a change to remove gender gaps.
*Statistics based on both CinemaChile film and TV catalogs 2021-2022.
As we know, gender perspectives also hit the international screen. In 2022 we were part of how dozens of directors, producers and actresses shone with their own light.
New perspectives and themes began to triumph abroad, where of the 88 awards received, last year, correspond to productions directed and produced by women, such as Manuela Martelli, Claudia Huaiquimilla, Katherina Harder, Bernarda Ojeda ,Tana Gilbert, Magdalena Hurtado, Milena Castro, Catherine Mazoyer, Catalina Ibañez, Francina Carbonell, Natalia Luque, Camila Donoso, Constanza Fernandez, María Fernanda Sessa , Lola Contreras, Kattia Zúñiga, Constanza Majluf, Laura Donoso, Andrea Nachon, Alejandra Jaramillo, Alba Gaviraghi and Francisca Peró and from production Alexandra Galvis, Gabriela Sandoval, Catalina Vergara, Soledad Cáceres, Ignacia Merino, Isabel Reyes, Cecilia Otero, Camila Huerta, Isidora Thiele, Paulina Sanhueza, Francisca Barraza, María José Díaz, Paulina Ferretti and Margarita Egaña, as well as other awards for actresses such as Paulina García who received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gramado Film Festival in Brazil.
Women who open the way to an approximation of female referents and consolidate in the process of training and inclusion that Estudio Mujeres sought in the audiovisual field: barriers and gender gaps in the Chilean artistic sector 2021 made by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage of Chile.
