The French Minister for Culture and Communication and the Minister for Women's Rights have signed a new charter in support of equality between women and men in the French movie industry.
Aurélie Filippetti, France's Minister for Culture and Communication, and Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Minister for Women's Rights and the government's spokesperson, signed a charter on October 10, 2013, in favor of gender equality in the movie industry. This five-point charter was prepared by the association "Le Deuxième Regard" and was signed in the presence of Frédérique Bredin, president of the National Cinema Center (CNC); Véronique Cayla, president of Arte France, who is also the association's patron; Isabelle Giordano, general director of UniFrance Films; the film director Agnès Varda; the actress and producer Julie Gayet; and numerous movie and television industry professionals.
Under the charter, the signatories pledge to:
1. Ensure the production of more gender-based statistics for the sector in order to identify problems of men and women's participation, and to join in a shared reflection on the position of women in the French film industry.
2. Encourage an equal representation of women and men in decision-making bodies.
3. Stimulate cinematic creativity by encouraging the creation of projects that subvert traditional representations of women and men.
4. Raise awareness in their own organizations of the issue of equality by combating gender stereotypes.
5. Apply equal pay rights, and, for organizations concerned, the Decree n° 2012-1408 of December 2012 relating to the implementation of companies' duties in terms of professional equality between women and men.
