About Us: Just The Facts

Just The Facts

Created in 1989, the St. John's International Women's Film Festival is a charitable organization that serves to celebrate films and filmmakers and to promote international talent. Feminine talent, that is. Since its inception, the St. John's International Women's Film Festival has screened 672 films for a total of 349 hours of screening time.

Working in a male-dominated profession, women filmmakers face a celluloid ceiling when it comes to advancing in the film industry.

Some little known facts:

In her report "The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women in the Top 250 Films of 2004," Martha Lauzon discovered a decline in the percentage of women working as directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers and editors on the top 250 domestic grossing films from 19% in 2001 to 16% in 2004. In her update of that report, she found that there has been a further decline. In 2006, women comprised only 15% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors.
Also, Lauzon reports that 21% of the films released in 2004 employed no women directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, or editors. In 2006, the number of films without women in those positions increased to 22%.
Women documentary filmmakers have traditionally been much luckier than their Hollywood dramatic feature counterparts when it comes to the Oscars. Eleven women have won awards in the documentary category.
Women directed only 7% of the top 200 films in 2005. In 2006, women accounted for only 7% of directors again. This is less than the recent historical high of 11% recorded in 2000.
35 international directors were asked to submit a 3-minute film to Chacun Son Cinema/ To Each His Own Cinema this year to celebrate the 60th birthday of the Cannes Film Festival. Even though it was conceived as a way to celebrate cinema rather than Cannes per se, only one of the 35 directors invited to participate was a woman.