We were always there!
We demand that ARTE finally tackles structural change instead of declaring a sexist competition.
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After the release of the competion “Searching for female directors“.
Pary El-Qalqili and Biene Pilavci from NichtmeinTatort published their open letter to ARTE.
We founded our network #wewarenimmerda (#wewerealwaysthere) and composed this video letter:
Letter
Dear ARTE editorial team,
we know a lot about you: For decades, ARTE has shown a pleasantly rich program on numerous screens. But: who are we, the directors*? You obviously don’t know what we need or want. There is hardly any other way of explaining your latest call for proposals, “Searching for female directors” (German).
According to the dictionary, the term ”search” means “the effort to find someone or something lost or hidden.” But we are not hidden or lost. We present ourselves at film festivals, pitchings and screenings.
We are present!
And now we should compete against each other in a show for you? We are to produce films free of charge that – if they win the competition – are shown on ARTE. The chosen ones should receive a license fee that has not yet been determined. In our experience, these payments don’t even cover production costs.
Admittedly, we are used to pre-finance and having to prove ourselves. Before that, people – and too often women – rarely trust us. This time, too, some will get into the ring without pay.
But: We don’t want to compete against each other. We are on strike!
We also don’t feel like having to explain ourselves and our womanhood! Women directors, but also male directors*, can deal with topics regardless of their gender. In addition, modern feminism has been trying to
break down binary gender categories for decades.
A little thought experiment: Imagine a competition for male directors on the subject of “Indescribably Male”! And? What do you see? Irritating, isn’t it?
Your appeal does not solve a structural problem, it reinforces it!
This structural problem is well known: the diversity report from 2018 (German) shows that women directors are not even close to being adequately represented in the film and television industry. And this even though more than 50% of the film school graduates are women.
“Why is this reality not showing up on the screens so far?” You ask. Good question! For 50 years, women* have been studying at German film schools. They had to be content with low-budget projects and claim against the prejudice that women are not as creative as men.
You say you are looking forward to “lots of new talent”. Pay tribute to our talent with slots, not only one 52 minutes slot. In 2020 we also call for a concrete plan for the integration of BIPoCs, trans women* and non-binary people.
The fact that there is currently not a single woman* on the ARTE board or in the twelve-person general meeting seems like a bad joke (German). You want equality? Start right there. We are not responsible for resolving this structural problem for you.
If you no longer want to miss our clever films and strong stories,
tackle the structural change – also as a pioneer for other broadcasters!
Don’t take a detour via a short film competition that has nothing to do with long broadcast slots. Approach it directly: Post pitchings for ARTE themed evenings and for the Grand Format. For all directors alike. Gender equality and the elimination of multiple discrimination start with the selection of the substances and the makers. That is YOUR job.
Dare to be at eye level: break the hierarchy between you and us! Understand this letter our approach towards you.
You don’t have to look for us.
We were always there!
Initiators: Annelie Boros, director and screenwriter, Lara Milena Brose, director, Vera Drude, director and screenwriter, Narges Kalhor, director and screenwriter, Laura Kansy, director and cameraperson, Sabrina Kleder, producer, Mara Molitor, filmmaker, Gisela Carbajal Rodríguez, director, Benedikt Schwarzer, screenwriter and director, Elizaveta Snagovskaia, director, Rebecca Zehr, director
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Sign the open letter by Pary El-Qalqili and Biene Pilavci from NichtMeinTatort.
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Supporters
The following persons co-signed the letter.
Alice Agneskirchner
Autorin, Regisseurin, Produzentin
Aydin Alinejad
Drehbuchautor
Clara von Arnim
Regisseurin
Daniel Asadi Faezi
Regisseur und Autor
Amparo mejías Auñon
Filmeditor
Sophie Averkamp
Regisseurin
Beatrice Babin
Editorin
Lea Becker
Autorin, Regisseurin
Clemens Beier
Regisseur
Corinna Belz
Regisseurin und Autorin
Karin Berghammer
Regisseurin und Produzentin
Bernd Blaschke
Autor
Gabi Blum
Bildende Künstlerin
Cornelia Böhm
Sounddesignerin
Svenja Böttger
Leiterin Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis
Annelie Boros
Regisseurin und Autorin
Ina Borrmann
Regisseurin, Drehbuchautorin & Produzentin
Sarah Noa Bozenhardt
Autorin und Regisseurin
Silke Botsch
Editorin
Nancy Brandt
Autorin, Regisseurin
Jenny Bräuer
Autorin und Kamerafrau
Lara Brose
Regisseurin
Vera Maria Brückner
Regisseurin
Hannes Bruun
Filmeditor
Eileen Byrne
Regisseurin
Gisela Carbajal Rodríguez
Regisseurin
Yannik Carstensen
HFF-Student
Ella Cieslinski
Filmemacherin
Sonja Collison
Autorin / Creative Producerin
Jule Katinka Cramer
Bildgestalterin und Filmemacherin
Prof. Doris Dörrie
Autorin und Regisseurin
Vera Drude
Regisseurin und Autorin
Jonas Eisenschmidt
Regisseur und Kameramann
Zita Erffa
Regisseurin und Autorin
Ysabel Fantou
Autorin, Regisseurin, Produzentin
Katja Fedulova
Regisseurin und Autorin
Julia Fuhr Mann
Regisseurin und Autorin
Inka Fromme
Dozentin für Drehbuchreiben und Filmdramaturgie
Miriam Goeze
Regisseurin
Alireza Golafshan
Regisseur und Autor
Andreas Goldbrunner
Tonmeister
Gudrun Gruber
Regisseurin und Autorin
David Hacke
Regisseur
Louis Hanquet
Regisseur und Kameramann
Laura Hartung
Producer
Juliane Henrich
Filmemacherin
Christiane Hitzemann
Filmemacherin
David Holfelder
Editor
Monika Huber
Künstlerin
Marina Hufnagel
Regisseurin und Autorin
Nicole Huminski
Regiestudentin
Natalia Imaz
Produzentin
Nadja Ißler
Regisseurin und Autorin
Hannah Jandl
Regisseurin
Narges Kalhor
Regisseurin und Autorin
Laura Kansy
Regisseurin und Kamerafrau
Toni Karat
Filmemacher*in
Barbara Karrer
Künstlerin
Emil Klattenhoff
Regisseur
Sabrina Kleder
Producerin
Felix Klee
Autor und Regisseur
Lena Knauss
Regisseurin
Sabine Koder
Regisseurin und Autorin
Mona Vojacek Koper
Schauspielerin
Therese Koppe
Autorin und Regisseurin
Pauline Kortmann
Animationsfilmerin
Amrei Kriener
Autorin
Jenny Krüger
Festivalleiterin
Prof. Michaela Krützen
Medienwissenschaftlerin
Sanne Kurz
Filmemacherin und Rundfunkrätin
Dr. Hanne Landbeck
Schreibcoach
Lara Laigneau
Regisseurin/Kamerafrau
Tina Leeb
Produzentin, Dramaturgin und Auswertungsberaterin
Theresa Maué
Kamerafrau
Annika Mayer
Produzentin und Editorin
Reza Memari
Autor und Regisseur
Ozan Mermer
Autor und Regisseur
Henrike Meyer
Filmemacherin
Elisa Mishto
Regisseurin und Drehbuchautorin
Mara Molitor
Filmemacherin
Andrea Muñoz
Editorin
Carla Muresan
Kamerafrau
Sylvia Nagel
Autorin, Filmemacherin, Produzentin
Miriam Nandi
Dozentin
Dorotheé Neff
Schauspielerin und Autorin
Le Nguyen
Regisseurin
Lena Ditte Nissen
Filmemacherin
Sophie Oldenbourg
Editorin
Stefan Oliveira-Pita
Filmeditor
Mirjam Orthen
Regisseurin und Autorin
Dino Osmanovic
Kameramann
Amara Palacios
Producerin
Anne-Christin Plate
Animationsfilmerin
Corinna C. Poetter
Autorin, Dramaturgin und Produzentin
Miriam Pucitta
Autorin Regisseurin
Biene Pilavci
Autorin und Filmemacherin
Sandra Prüfer
Autorin
Pary El-Qalqili
Autorin und Regisseurin
Katharina Rabl
Regisseurin
Lawinia Rate
Kuratorin und Filmprogrammerin
Nina Rathke
Producerin/Drehbuchautorin
Paula Redlefsen
Drehbuchautorin
Liza Reichardt
Drehbuchautorin
Maya Reichert
Regisseurin und Filmvermittlerin
Laura Reichwald
Autorin und Regisseurin
Annegret Richter
Geschäftsführerin AG Animationsfilm und Filmkuratorin
Denise Riedmayr
Filmemacherin
Pauline Roenneberg
Autorin & Regisseurin
Sabine Rollberg
ehem. ARTE-Redakteurin und Professorin
Janina Rook
Autorin und Regisseurin
Jessica Rudolph
Filmeditorin
Stefan Runge
Bildgestaltung
Sinem Sakaoglu
Regisseurin
Helke Sander
Regisseurin und Autorin
Aline Schaefers
Produzentin
Anja Scharf
Drehbuchautorin
Kyra Scheurer
Dramaturgin
Viktor Schimpf
Filmemacher
Julia Schmitt
Editorin
Anna Schneider
Regisseurin und Autorin
Christine Schorr
Filmeditorin
Silke Cecilia Schultz
Drehbuchautorin und Dramaturgin
Benedikt Schwarzer
Autor und Regisseur
Céline Schweda
Kunstpädagogin
Britta Schwem
Autorin
Johanna Seggelke
Filmemacherin
Satu Siegemund
Regisseurin
Helen Simon
Regisseurin
Elizaveta Snagovskaia
Regisseurin
Felicitas Sonvilla
Regisseurin und Editorin
Caroline Spreitzenbart
Kamerafrau
Rosanna Stark
Kamerafrau
Helga-Mari Steininger
Autorin und Producerin
Susanne Steinmassl
Regisseurin und Videokünstlerin
Thomas Stellmach
Regisseur und Produzent
Clara Stern
Drehbuchautorin und Regisseurin
Lisa Marie Stoiber
Schauspielerin
Julia Swoboda
Kamerafrau
Daniel Thomé
Autor
Hélène Tragesser
Regisseurin für Animationsfilm
Stella Traub
Regisseurin
Paula Tschira
Kamerafrau
Trang Vo
Regisseurin
Lisa Voelter
Regisseurin und Kamerafrau
Benjamin Vornehm
Regisseur und Producer
Carlotta Wachotsch
Regisseurin
Julia Walter
Regisseurin & Drehbuchautorin
Nina Wesemann
Regisseurin und Kamerafrau
Alexandra Wesolowski
Regisseurin und Autorin
Hannes Wesselkämper
Filmwissenschaftler und Kurator
Wouter Wirth
Autor und Regisseur
Maite Woköck
Produzentin & Geschäftsführerin
Rebecca Zehr
Regisseurin
Milian Zerzawy
Schauspieler
Luc-Carolin Ziemann
Autorin und Kuratorin
Laura-Johanne Zimmermann
Producerin
Mila Zhluktenko
Regisseurin
Iris Zimmermann
Filmemacherin
Marie Zrenner
Regisseurin und Editorin
Join us!
Sign the open letter by Pary El-Qalqili and Biene Pilavci from NichtMeinTatort.
Please leave your first name, surname and job title in their contact form.
Contact
If you want to sign the open letter by Pary El-Qalqili and Biene Pilavci, leave your first name, surname and job title in the contact form of NichtMeinTatort.