Female professionals in
European film production
2022 edition

Patrizia Simone
October 2022

A publication of the European Audiovisual Observatory

INDEXSCOPE AND METHODOLOGY…………………………………. 3
KEY FINDINGS 2017-2021…………………………………… 9
DIRECTORS………………………………………………………. 13
SCREENWRITERS………………………………………………. 23
PRODUCERS…………………………………………………….. 32
CINEMATOGRAPHERS………………………………………… 41
COMPOSERS…………………………………………………….. 50
LEAD ROLES…………………………………………………….. 59

SCOPE AND METHODOLOGYScopeScope

Share of female professionals working as: Directors
 Screenwriters Producers
 Cinematographers Composers
 Lead roles / protagonistsof European* feature films
produced between 2017 and 2021
and theatrically released
in at least one European market* “European” here refers to the member states of the Council of Europe.

4Research
Researchquestions
questionsThis report addresses the presence of women among film professionals
from three different angles:

A

B

C

How are women
represented among
active professionals?

What is the average
share of female
professionals per film?

What is the share ofworks by a majority offemale professionals(female-driven teams)?

5

Definitions and sources:
Europeanfeature films (1/3)
Researchquestions

The analysis presented in this section draws on data from the European Audiovisual
Observatory’s LUMIERE database, which collates annual admissions to theatrically released
films from a wide variety of sources, including national film agencies and statistics offices.
The study sample includes European feature films produced between 2017 and 2021 andreleased in cinemas in Europe between 2017 and 2021. The dataset only includes films forwhich it was possible to track at least one commercial theatrical screening in one of theEuropean markets covered in the LUMIERE database. Please note that the annual number offilms produced in a given country as it appears in LUMIERE may differ from official production
figures, since the database only includes films that have been commercially released. For timeseries, the year of production has been chosen as an indicator instead of the release years.
The analysis only includes feature-length films, leaving out compilations of short films andevent cinema screenings. In the analysis, animated feature films are considered separatelyfrom fiction films.

6

Definitions and sources:
Europeanfeature films (2/3)
ResearchquestionsThis report takes into account the origin of film works, rather than the nationality of directors.
A film is here considered to be of European origin when produced and majority-financed by aEuropean country. For the purpose of this analysis, the 46 member states of the Council ofEurope1 are considered European countries. However, the LUMIERE database covers amaximum of 34 European markets2 for films produced between 2017 and 2021. Since LUMIERE
tracks films based on admissions, the volume of film production in those countries that are notcovered in the database may have been underestimated (i.e. may not include films that were
only released in their national markets).
Please note that there are differences in the coverage of individual markets in LUMIERE which
can distort the direct comparability of statistical indicators between years or countries. This isparticularly true with regard to the number of films on release.
1)

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, North Macedonia, Romania, San
Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

2)

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, United Kingdom.

7

Definitions and sources:
Europeanfeature films (3/3)
Researchquestions
The report’s scope includes six professional categories: directors, screenwriters, producers,
cinematographers, composers and lead roles.
The information on film directors of each feature film builds on the data from the LUMIERE
database. The names of professionals working in other roles were retrieved from the data madepublicly available by IMDb. The gender of each film professional was identified and tagged by
the European Audiovisual Observatory.
Since information on each professional category was not equally available, different datasets
were used for the analyses on the different professional roles.

Number of feature films in the sample by category
Role
Directors
Screenwriters
Producers
Cinematographers
Composers
Lead roles

Nr of films% of LUMIERE sample
9 181
100%
7 264
79%
6 121
67%
4 880
53%
4 994
54%
7 271
79%

8

KEY FINDINGS 2017-2021

A) How are women represented among active professionals
in European feature films?
DIRECTORSCINEMATOGRAPHERS

25%

10%

SCREENWRITERSCOMPOSERS

28%

10%

PRODUCERSLEAD ROLES

34%

39%

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

1B) What is the average share of female professionals per film?
DIRECTORSCINEMATOGRAPHERS

22%

10%

SCREENWRITERSCOMPOSERS

27%

8%

PRODUCERSLEAD ROLES

32%

39%

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

11C) What is the share of films by female-driven teams?
DIRECTORSCINEMATOGRAPHERS

20%

9%

SCREENWRITERSCOMPOSERS

19%

7%

PRODUCERSLEAD ROLES

23%

17%

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

12

DIRECTORS

1European feature films: DIRECTORS

Women accounted for 25% of all directors of European feature films active between
2017 and 2021.
On average, women directed fewer films than men and they were less likely to be
the sole directors of feature films than their male counterparts. For these reasons,the average share of female directors per film was 22%, a figure which is lower than
the share of women among all active directors in the workforce.
Female directors in the sample were involved, whether alone or in partnership withother colleagues, in the direction of 25% of European feature films. However, theshare of films directed by female-driven* teams was only 20%, since when womenco-directed a film, it was in most cases in collaboration with a male colleague.

* In this context, “female-driven” refers to feature films by a majority (≥ 60%) of female directors: by one individual female director; by several
female directors; by teams of directors of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.

14

1A How are women represented among film directors?
Cumulatively, women accounted for 25% of directors of European feature films active between 2017 and 2021.
The share of female directors did not significantly change over the considered time period.
This share was higher for documentary films than for live-action and animated features.

DIRECTORS: number and share of active directors*,
by gender and by production year (2017-2021)**

DIRECTORS: number and share of active directors*,
by gender and by film genre (2017-2021)**
25%

25%

2 173

2 173
21%
1 047

21%

25%

497

518

611

1 776

1 898

1 843

2017

2018

2019

22%

Male directors

30%

6 652
25%
396
1 185

24%
381
1 181

2020

2021

Female directors

4 033

2017-2021

6 652

1 108

Live-action fiction% of female directors

2 557

Documentary

Male directors

19%

57
236

Animation

Female directors

All genres% of female directors* Active director: at least one feature film (co)directed between 2017 and 2021.
** The total number of active directors does not equal the sum of active directors by year or by film type as a director may have worked on
several films and film genres across the years.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

15

1A How does the activity of female and male directors compare?
Comparatively, the level of activity for female directors was slightly lower than for their male counterparts.
Only 11% of women directed two or more films, compared to 16% for men.
In the considered time period, each female director shot on average 1.1 film compared to 1.2 film formale directors.

DIRECTORS: level of activity
by gender of directors (2017-2021)
In number of directors

2%

In % of directors

4%

9%

12%

1 945

90%

84%

5 584
194
278
790

1 film2 films
Male directors

Female directors

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE≥3 films

34

Female directors
1 filmMale directors
2 films≥3 films

16

B What is the average share of female directors in European feature films?
When looking at the proportion of women and men among the total number of directors of each work,
the average share of female directors per film was 22% between 2017 and 2021.
The average share of female directors per film was higher for documentaries (29%) than for other film
genres.
DIRECTORS: average share of female directors per film*,
by production year (2017-2021)

DIRECTORS: average share of female directors per film*,
by film genre (2017-2021)

28.8%

21.2%

23.6%

24.1%

23.6%

20.3%

22.4%

22.4%
18.7%
16.2%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2017-2021

Live-action Documentary Animation
fictionAll genres* Average of the shares of female directors calculated from the total number of directors for each feature film in the sample.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

17

B What is the average share of female directors in “debut films”?
When considering debut films*, the average share of female directors per film was slightly higher (27%) than forfilms in general (22%).

DIRECTORS: average share of female directors per film,by film type (2017-2021)

27%
19.5%

Debut films

Other films

22%

All films* A debut film here refers to the presumed first feature film made by a film director. In the context of this analysis, a film by multiple directors
is considered a debut only if it is the first feature for all directors involved.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE18

B Average share of female directors per film, by country of production
The average share of female directors per film varied between 7% and 36% across Europe.

DIRECTORS: average share of female directors per film*,
by country of production** (2017-2021)
36% 35%34%

33% 32%

31%

30% 29%29%

28% 27%25% 24%24%

23% 23% 23% 22%

21%

20% 19%19% 19% 18% 18% 18% 18%
18% 17%

15%

14%
9%

IS

AT

NO

SE

LV

FI

DE

DK

NL

BE

CH

FR

HU

SK

EE

CZ

HR

EUR

PT

IE

RO

LT

BA

ES

PL

BG

GB

GR

LU

MK

IT

TR

7%

SI

* Average of the shares of female directors calculated from the total number of directors for each feature film in the sample.
** The country of production is here defined as the main production country of feature films, as it appears in the LUMIERE database. The analysis excludes
production countries with a limited coverage in LUMIERE, since the number of films in the database might not be representative of real production volume.
Production countries with a limited film production volume (sample comprising fewer than 10 feature films with information on directors between 2017 and2021) are also excluded from this graph.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

19

C What is the share of feature films made by at least one female director?
Female directors were involved in the direction of 25% of feature films produced between 2017 and 2021, whether
alone or in teams with other colleagues.
Women in the sample worked in partnership with other directors more often than men.
DIRECTORS: share of European feature films
by at least one female (co)director (2017-2021)

25%

DIRECTORS: breakdown of European feature films
by at least one female (co)director (2017-2021)
By several
directors
22%
By one female
director
78%

Films by at least one female director

DIRECTORS: share of European feature films
by at least one male (co)director (2017-2021)

FILM DIRECTORS: breakdown of European feature films
by at least one male (co)director (2017-2021)
By several
directors
14%80%

By one maledirector86%

Films by at least one male director

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE20

C Feature films:What
Genderis thecomposition
share of AVoffiction
teamsledof directors
by female directors?
Among European feature films produced between 2017 and 2021:
19% were directed by one individual female director;
only 1% were directed by several female directors;
2% were made by teams of directors of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
DIRECTORS: gender composition of teams of directors (2017-2021)
Feature films by female-driven* teams of directors

By onefemaledirector
19%

By multiple
directors
12%

By one maledirector69%

By several
femaledirectors
1%

By several
male
directors
7%

Mixed teams:
female majority 0.2%

By directorsof bothgenders4%

Mixed teams:
male majority
0.4%

Mixed teams:
gender-balanced
4%

How to read this graph: 12% of feature films were directed by several directors; 4% were directed by directors of both genders; 4% weredirected by gender-balanced teams of directors.
* In this context, “female-driven” refers to feature films by a majority (≥ 60%) of female directors: by one individual female director; by several
female directors; by teams of directors of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

21

C WhatWhatisisthetheshareshareofoffeature
AV fiction
films
leddirectedby femaleby female-driven
directors?
teams?
About 20% of European feature films were directed by female-driven* teams between 2017 and 2021.
This can be ascribed to the fact that women were more likely to co-direct than men, and when they did,it was mostly in partnership with a male colleague.
This figure was relatively stable across the years and was higher for documentary than for other film
genres.
DIRECTORS: share of feature films by gender compositionof directors’ teams, by year (2017-2021)

DIRECTORS: share of feature films by gender compositionof directors’ teams, by film genre (2017-2021)

3%

3%

4%

4%

3%

4%

2%

6%

77%

78%

74%

74%

75%

76%

80%

68%

20%

19%

21%

22%

22%

20%

18%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2017-2021

Female majority

Male majority

Gender-balanced teams

4%

76%

80%

26%

Live-action fiction Documentary
Female majority

7%

20%

13%

Animation

Male majority

All genres

Gender-balanced teams* In this context, “female-driven” refers to feature films by a majority (≥ 60%) of female directors: by one individual female director; by several
female directors; by teams of directors of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

22

SCREENWRITERS

1

European feature films: SCREENWRITERS
Women represented 28% of screenwriters of European feature films produced
between 2017 and 2021.
When considering the female and male proportion of all screenwriters of each film,
the resulting average share of female screenwriters per film was 27%, a figure
which is slightly lower than the share of women among all active screenwriters in
the workforce. In the time period studied, women were less likely than men to be thesole screenwriters of a feature film.
Female screenwriters were involved in the writing of 39% of European feature films,
whether alone (13%) or in teams (26%). However, the share of films written by amajority of female screenwriters* was only 19%, due to the fact that when womenco-wrote a film, it was often within teams with a majority of male screenwriters.

* In this context, “female-driven” refers to feature films written by a majority (≥ 60%) of female screenwriters. They can be either written: by
one individual female screenwriter; by several female screenwriters; by teams of screenwriters of both genders with a female presence ofat least 60%.
24

1
A How are women represented among film screenwriters?
Cumulatively, women accounted for 28% of screenwriters of European feature films active between 2017 and 2021.
The share of female screenwriters has marginally increased over this time period.
The share was higher for documentary (31%) films than for live-action and animated fiction features.
SCREENWRITERS: number and share of active
screenwriters* by gender and by production year** (2017-2021)

SCREENWRITERS: number and share of active
screenwriters* by gender and by film genre** (2017-2021)

28%
2914

28%
2914

26%
2048

25%
702

25%
728

27%
798

2 060

2 207

2 150

2017

2018

2019

Male screenwriters

7 680
29%
565
1 352

29%
575
1 380

2020

2021

Female screenwriters

2017-2021% of female screenwriters

Live-action fiction

7 680

31%

5 726

829

89

1 812

23%

Documentary

Animation

Male screenwriters

Female screenwriters

300

All genres% of female screenwriters* Active screenwriter: at least one feature film (co)written between 2017 and 2021.
** The total number of screenwriters does not equal the sum of screenwriters by year or by film genre as an individual screenwriter may
have worked on several films and film genres across the years.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

25

1
A How does the activity of female and male screenwriters compare?
Comparatively, the level of activity of female screenwriters was slightly lower than for male professionals.
86% of female screenwriters only worked on one feature film in the considered period, compared to
83% for their male colleagues.

SCREENWRITERS: level of activity
by gender of screenwriters (2017-2021)
In % of screenwriters

In number of screenwriters
4%

5%

10%

12%

86%

83%

Female screenwriters

Male screenwriters

2 513

6 407
292
380
893

1 film2 films
Male screenwriters≥3 films

Female screenwriters

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

109

1 film2 films≥3 films

26

B What is the average share of female screenwriters per film?
When looking at the proportion of women and men on the total number of screenwriters of each work,
the average share of female screenwriters per film was 27% between 2017 and 2021.
As for film directors, the average share of female screenwriters per film was higher in documentary(31%) than other film types.
SCREENWRITERS: average share of female screenwriters per film*,
by production year (2017-2021)
29.6%

31.4%
29.0%

27.0%
24.6%

SCREENWRITERS: average share of female screenwriters per film*,
by film genre (2017-2021)

26.6%

24.4%

26.6%

25.0%
21.3%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2017-2021

Live-action fiction Documentary

Animation

All genres* Average of the shares of female screenwriters calculated from the total number of screenwriters for each feature film in the sample.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

27

B Feature
Averagefilms:
shareweighted
of femalesharescreenwriters
film, by countryof productionof femaleper
screenwriters
by countryof production
The average share of female screenwriters per film varied between 14% and 38% across European countries.

SCREENWRITERS: average share of by female screenwriters per film*,
by country of production** (2017-2021)
38%

36% 36%

34% 34% 33%

32% 32%

31% 30%29% 29%28% 28% 28% 28% 27% 27%
27% 26% 26%

25% 25%

24% 23%
22% 22%

21% 21%

20%

18%

17%
14%

AT

NO

NL

DE

HR

LV

FI

CH

GR

SE

HU

FR

EE

CZ

DK

PL

BE

IS

EUR RO

SK

LT

PT

ES

BA

GB

BG

MK

IT

IE

SI

LU

TR

* Average of the shares of female screenwriters calculated from the total number of screenwriters for each feature film in the sample.
** The country of production is here defined as the main production country of feature films, as it appears in the LUMIERE database. This analysis excludes
production countries with limited coverage in LUMIERE, since the number of films in the database might not be representative of real production volume.
Production countries with a limited film production volume (sample comprising fewer than 10 feature films with information on screenwriters between 2017and 2021) are also excluded from this graph.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE28

C What is the share of films written by at least one female screenwriter?
Women were involved, whether alone or in partnership with other colleagues, in the writing of 39% of featurefilms produced between 2017 and 2021.
Female screenwriters tended to work in partnership with other colleagues more often than men.
SCREENWRITERS: share of European feature films
by at least one female (co)writer (2017-2021)

39%

SCREENWRITERS: breakdown of European feature films
by at least one female (co)writer (2017-2021)

By onefemalescreenwriter34%

By several
screenwriters
66%

Films by at least one female screenwriter

SCREENWRITERS: share of European feature films
by at least one male (co)writer (2017-2021)

83%

SCREENWRITERS: breakdown of European feature films
by at least one male (co)writer (2017-2021)
By one malescreenwriter
44%
By several
screenwriters
56%

Films by at least one male screenwriter
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE29

C Feature films:What
Genderis thecomposition
share of AVoffiction
screenwriters’
led by female
teamsdirectors?
Among European feature films produced between 2017 and 2021:
13% were written by one individual female screenwriter;
4% were written by several female screenwriters;
2% were written by teams of professionals of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
SCREENWRITERS: gender composition of teams of screenwriters (2017-2021)
Feature films by female-driven* teams of screenwriters

By several female
screenwriters
4%

By one female
screenwriter
13%

By one malescreenwriter37%

By multiple
screenwriters
50%

By several
male
screenwriters
25%

Mixed teams:
female majority
2%

By
screenwritersof bothgenders22%

Mixed teams:
male-majority
7%

Mixed teams:
gender-balanced
12%

How to read this graph: 50% of feature films were written by several screenwriters; 22% were written by screenwriters of both genders;
12% were written by gender-balanced teams of screenwriters.
* In this context, “female-driven” refers to feature films written by a majority (≥ 60%) of female screenwriters: by one individual female
screenwriter; by several female screenwriters; by teams of screenwriters of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE30

C WhatWhatisisthetheshareshareofoffeature
AV fiction
films
ledwritten
by femaleby female-driven
directors? teams?
Between 2017 and 2021 only 19% of European feature films were written by female-driven* teams of screenwriters.
Given the high number of films co-written by several screenwriters, this is due to the fact that when
women co-wrote a film, it was often within male-driven teams of screenwriters.
This figure marginally grew during this time period and tended to be higher for documentary than forother film genres.
SCREENWRITERS: share of feature films by gender compositionof screenwriters’ teams, by year (2017-2021)

SCREENWRITERS: share of feature films by gender compositionof screenwriters’ teams, by film genre (2017-2021)

12%

12%

13%

14%

11%

12%

12%

71%

71%

68%

64%

67%

69%

70%

17%

17%

19%

22%

22%

19%

17%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2017-2021

Female majority

Male majority

Gender-balanced teams

13%

63%

24%

Live-action fiction Documentary
Female majority

Male majority

12%

75%

12%

Animation

12%

69%

19%

All genres

Gender-balanced teams* In this context, “female-driven” refers to feature films written by a majority (≥ 60%) of female screenwriters. They can be either written: by
one individual female screenwriter; by several female screenwriters; by teams of screenwriters of both genders with a female presence ofat least 60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

31

PRODUCERS

1

European feature films: PRODUCERS
Women accounted for 34% of active producers of European feature films between
2017 and 2021. On average, women tended to produce slightly fewer films thanmen.
When calculating the share of female and male professionals out of the total
number of producers for each film, the average share of female producers per film
was 32%, a figure which is slightly lower than the share of women among all active
producers.
In most cases, female producers worked as part of a team of several professionals
and they were less likely than men to be the sole producer of a film.
Female producers were involved in the production of 45% of European feature films,
whether alone or in teams. However, the share of films produced by female-driven
teams* was only 23%, as when women co-produced a film, it was mainly withingender-balanced or male-majority teams of producers.
* In this context, “female-driven” refers to features by a majority (≥ 60%) of female producers: by one individual female producer; by several
female producers; by teams of producers of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
33

1
A How are women represented among film producers?
Cumulatively, women accounted for 34% of producers of European feature films active between 2017 and 2021.
The share of female producers marginally increased over this time period.
The share was higher for documentaries than for live-action and animated fiction films.
PRODUCERS: number and share of activeproducers*
by gender and by production year** (2017-2021)

PRODUCERS: number and share of activeproducers*
by gender and by film genre** (2017-2021)
34%
34%

34%

2168
2168

2168

32%
1472

32%
32%

32%
32%

607
607

695
695

681
681

371
11371

477
11477

442
11442

2017
2017

2018
2018

2019
2019

31%
31%

Maleproducers
producers
Male

38%
34%
34%
496
496

35%
35%

968
968

919
919

2020
2020

2021
2021

Femaleproducers
producers
Female

172
44172

486
486

2017-2021
2017-2021

Live-action fiction

offemalefemaleproducers
producers
%%of

4 172

806

3 087

57

1 324

27%

Documentary

Animation

Male producers

Female producers

155

All genres% of female producers* Active producer: at least one feature film (co)produced between 2017 and 2021.
** The total number of producers does not equal the sum of producers by year or by film genre as an individual professional may haveworked on several films and film genres across the years.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

34

1
A How does the activity of female and male producers compare?
Comparatively, the level of activity was slightly higher for male than for female producers.
Only 28% of female producers worked on two or more feature films in the considered period, comparedto 33% of their male colleagues.

PRODUCERS: level of activity
by gender of producers (2017-2021)
In % of producers

In number of producers
13%

16%

15%

17%

1 563

72%

2 789

1 film

333

272

712

671

2 films≥3 films

Male producers

Female producers

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

67%

Female producers
1 filmMale producers
2 films≥3 films

35

B What is the average share of female producers per film?
When looking at the proportion of women and men on the total number of producers of each work, the average
share of female producers per film was 32% between 2017 and 2021.
As for other professional roles, the average share of female producers per film was higher indocumentary (39%) than other film genres.
PRODUCERS: average share of female producers per film*,
by production year (2017-2021)

PRODUCERS: average share of female producers per film*,
by film genre (2017-2021)
38.9%

30.2%

2017

31.8%

2018

31.2%

2019

33.5%

33.9%

31.9%

31.9%
29.1%

2020

2021

2017-2021

Live-action fiction Documentary

28.4%

Animation

All genres* Average of the shares of female producers calculated from the total number of producers for each feature film in the sample.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE36

B Feature
Averagefilms:
shareweighted
of femaleshareproducers
per film,
by countryby
of country
productionof femalescreenwritersof production
The average share of female producers per film varied between 17% and 60% across European countries.

PRODUCERS: average share of female producers per film*,
by country of production** (2017-2021)
60%
52%
47% 47% 46%

DK

RO

LV

LT

EE

45%

NO

43%

SE

40% 40% 40% 39% 39%

CH

IE

GR

FI

PL

38% 37% 37%
36% 36%

IS

SK

HU

GB

NL

35%

HR

32% 31% 31%
30% 30% 30%

EUR

BG

SI

BE

DE

ES

28% 27% 27%

BA

PT

FR

24% 23%CZ

MK

22% 21%

LU

IT

19%

AT

17%

TR

* Average of the shares of female producers calculated from the total number of producers for each feature film in the sample.
** The country of production is here defined as the main production country of feature films, as it appears in the LUMIERE database. This analysis excludes
production countries with limited coverage in LUMIERE, since the number of films in the database might not be representative of real production volume.
Production countries with a limited film production volume (sample comprising fewer than 10 feature films with information on producers between 2017 and2021) are also excluded from this graph.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE37

C What is the share of films produced by at least one woman?
Female producers were involved, whether alone or in partnership with other colleagues, in the production of 45%
of feature films produced between 2017 and 2021.
Female producers tended to work in partnership with other colleagues more often than men.
PRODUCERS: share of European feature films
by at least one female (co)producer (2017-2021)

45%

PRODUCERS: breakdown of European feature films
by at least one female (co)producer (2017-2021)

By onefemaleproducer36%

By several
producers
64%

Films by at least one female producer

PRODUCERS: share of European feature films
by at least one male (co)producer (2017-2021)

80%

PRODUCERS: breakdown of European feature films
by at least one male (co)producer (2017-2021)

By one male
By several
producer
producers41%
59%

Films by at least one male producer

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE38

C Feature films:What
Genderis thecomposition
share of AVoffiction
producers’
led byteams
female directors?
Among European feature films produced between 2017 and 2021:
16% had one individual female producer;
4% had several female producers;
3% had teams of producers of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
PRODUCERS: gender composition of teams of producers (2017-2021)
Feature films by female-driven* teams of producers

By several
female producers
4%

By one female
producer16%

By one maleproducer33%

By multiple
producers
51%

By
several maleproducers
22%

By
producersof bothgenders25%

Mixed teams:
female majority
3%

Mixed
teams:
genderbalanced
13%

Mixed
teams: malemajority
6%

How to read this graph: 51% of feature films were made by several producers; 25% by producers of both genders; 13% by gender-balanced
teams of producers.
* In this context, “female-driven” refers to feature films by a majority (≥ 60%) of female producers: by one individual female producer; byseveral female producers; by teams of producers of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIEREC WhatWhatisisthetheshareshareofoffeature
AV fiction
films
ledproducedby femalebydirectors?
female-driven teams?
Between 2017 and 2021, about 23% of European feature films had female-driven* teams of producers.
Given the high number of films by several producers, this is due to the fact that when women co-produced
a film, it was often within gender-balanced or male-driven teams of producers.
This figure has slightly increased over the considered time period and tends to be higher for documentary
than for other film genres.
PRODUCERS: share of feature films by gender composition of
producers’ teams, by year (2017-2021)

PRODUCERS: share of feature films films by gender composition of
producers’ teams, by film genre (2017-2021)

14%

16%

14%

16%

14%

15%

15%

64%

61%

63%

60%

60%

62%

65%

22%

23%

23%

25%

26%

23%

20%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2017-2021

Live-action fiction

Female majority

Male majority

Gender-balanced teams

13%

19%

55%
63%

32%

Documentary

Female majority

15%

62%

18%

23%

Animation

All genres

Male majority

Gender-balanced teams* In this context, “female-driven” refers to features by a majority (≥ 60%) of female producers: by one individual female producer; by several
female producers; by teams of producers of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

40

CINEMATOGRAPHERS

1

European feature films: CINEMATOGRAPHERS
Women only accounted for 10% of all cinematographers of European feature films
produced between 2017 and 2021.
The direction of photography is usually a solitary job: most films (89%) were madeby one individual director of photography (DOP). Taking into account all
cinematographers working on each title, the average share of female
cinematographers per film was 10%.
Female cinematographers in the sample were involved in the direction ofphotography of 12% of feature films, whether alone or in partnership with othercolleagues. However, the share of films with female-driven teams ofcinematographers* was only 9%. This is due to the fact that women were more likely
than men to work in teams with other professionals and when they did, it was mostly
within gender-balanced or male-majority teams of cinematographers.

* In this context, “female-driven” refers to feature films by a majority (≥ 60%) of female cinematographers: by one individual female
cinematographer; by several female cinematographers; by teams of cinematographers of both genders with a female presence of at least
60%.
42

1
A How are women represented among cinematographers?
Cumulatively, women only accounted for 10% of cinematographers of European feature films active between
2017 and 2021.
The share of female cinematographers remained relatively stable over this time period.
This share was slightly higher for documentaries than live-action and animated fiction films.
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: number and share of active
cinematographers* by gender and by production year** (2017-2021)

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: number and share of active
cinematographers* by gender and by film genre** (2017-2021)

10%

10%

392

392

9%
209

10%

10%
116
1 032

2017

1 036

2018

Male cinematographers

129
1 048

2019

10%

80

12%

707

690

2020

2021

Female cinematographers

2 032

96

3 347

215

3 347

11%
117

12%

1 563

2

11%

2017-2021% of female cinematographers

Live-action fiction

Documentary

Male cinematographers

17

Animation

Female cinematographers

All genres% of female cinematographers* Active cinematographer: credited for at least one feature film between 2017 and 2021.
** The total number of cinematographers does not equal the sum of cinematographers by year or by film genre as an individual
cinematographer may have worked on several films and film genres across the years.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

43

1
A How does the activity of female and male cinematographers compare?
Comparatively, the level of activity was similar for female and male cinematographers.
73% of cinematographers only worked on one feature film in the considered period, a figure which isthe same for both genders.

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: level of activity
by gender of cinematographers (2017-2021)
In % of cinematographers

In number of cinematographers
286

2 428
53

1 film

12%

14%

16%

73%

73%

Female cinematographers

Male cinematographers

53

523

396

2 films≥3 films

Male cinematographers

14%

Female cinematographers

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

1 film2 films≥3 films

B What is the average share of female cinematographers per film?
When looking at the proportion of women and men out of the total number of cinematographers of each work, theaverage share of female professionals per film was 10% between 2017 and 2021.
As observed for other professional categories, this share was higher in documentary (12%) than otherfilm genres.
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: average share of female cinematographers
per film*, by production year (2017-2021)

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: average share of female cinematographers
per film*, by film genre (2017-2021)
12.0%

11.7%
10.2%
9.5%

2017

2018

10.1%

10.3%

10.3%

10.3%
9.4%

2019

2020

2021

2017-2021

Live-action fiction Documentary

8.8%

Animation

All genres* Average of the shares of female professionals calculated from the total number of cinematographers for each feature film in the sample.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIEREB Feature
Averagefilms:
shareweighted
of femalesharecinematographers
per film, byby
country
ofof
productionof female screenwriters
country
production
The average share of female cinematographers per film varied between 0% and 26% across European countries.

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: average share of films of female cinematographers per film*,
by country of production** (2017-2021)
26%

22%
19%
15% 15%

SE

IS

AT

DE

DK

14% 14%

FI

LU

14%

FR

13%

ES

12% 12% 12% 12%

GR

MK

CH

NO

11% 11%
10%

GB

IE

EUR

9%

BE

9%

PT

9%

PL

8%

BA

7%

SK

6%

IT

6%

EE

6%

LV

5%

RO

4%

BG

3%

HU

3%

LT

3%

CZ

3%

HR

2%

TR

1%
NL

0%
SI

* Average of the shares of female professionals calculated from the total number of cinematographers for each feature film in the sample.
** The country of production is here defined as the main production country of feature films, as it appears in the LUMIERE database. This analysis excludes
production countries with limited coverage in LUMIERE, since the number of films in the database might not be representative of real production volume.
Production countries with a limited film production volume (sample comprising fewer than 10 feature films with information on cinematographers between
2017 and 2021) are also excluded from this graph.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIEREC What is the share of films by at least one female cinematographer?
Female cinematographers were involved, whether alone or in partnership with other colleagues, in the making of
12% of feature films produced between 2017 and 2021.
The vast majority of feature films (89%) were made by one individual director of photography.
Female cinematographers tended to work in partnership with other colleagues more often than men.
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: share of European feature films
by at least one female cinematographer (2017-2021)

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: breakdown of European feature films
by at least one female cinematographer (2017-2021)
By several
cinematographers25%

12%
By one female
cinematographer 75%

88%

Films by at least one female cinematographer

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: share of European feature films
by at least one male cinematographer (2017-2021)

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: breakdown of European feature films
by at least one male cinematographer (2017-2021)
By several
cinematographers
12%91%
By one malecinematographer
88%

Films by at least one male cinematographer

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIEREC Feature films:What
Genderis thecomposition
share of AVoffiction
cinematographers’
led by femaleteams
directors?
Among European feature films produced between 2017 and 2021:
9% were made by one individual female cinematographer;
0.3% were made by several female cinematographers;
0.1% were made by teams of cinematographers of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: gender composition of teams of cinematographers (2017-2021)
Feature films by female-driven* teams of cinematographers

By one female
cinematographer
9%

By multiple
cinematographers
11%

By one malecinematographer
80%

By several female
cinematographers
0.3%

By several malecinematographers
8%

Mixed teams:
By cinematographers female majorityof both genders
0.1%
3%

Mixed teams:
male majority
1%

Mixed teams:
gender-balanced
2%

How to read this graph: 11% of feature films were made by several cinematographers; 3% were by cinematographers of both genders; 1%were by gender-balanced teams of cinematographers.
* In this context, “female-driven” refers to feature films by a majority (≥ 60%) of female cinematographers: by one individual female
cinematographer; by several female cinematographers; by teams of cinematographers of both genders with a female presence of at least60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIEREC WhatWhatisisthetheshareshareofoffilms
AV fiction
by female-driven
led by female
teams
directors?
of cinematographers?
Between 2017 and 2021, about 9% of European feature films were made by female-driven* teams ofcinematographers.
Most films were made by one individual cinematographer. When multiple professionals worked on thephotography of a film, the cinematographers’ team was predominantly led by men.
This figure was relatively stable across the considered time period and tended to be similar acrossdifferent film genres.
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: share of feature films by gender compositionof cinematographers’ teams, by year (2017-2021)

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: share of feature films by gender compositionof cinematographers’ teams, by film genre (2017-2021)

2%

2%

3%

1%

3%

2%

1%

5%

6%

89%

90%

89%

89%

87%

89%

90%

86%

88%

9%

9%

9%

9%

10%

9%

9%

9%

6%

9%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2017-2021

Live-action fiction

Documentary

Animation

All genres

Female majority

Male majority

Gender-balanced teams

Female majority

Male majority

2%

89%

Gender-balanced teams* In this context, “female-driven” refers to feature films by a majority (≥ 60%) of female cinematographers: by one individual female
cinematographer; by several female cinematographers; by teams of cinematographers of both genders with a female presence of at least60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

49

COMPOSERS

1

European feature films – COMPOSERS
Women represented only 10% of music composers active in European feature films
between 2017 and 2021. On average, female composers worked on fewer films thanmen.
When calculating the female and male presence out of the total number ofcomposers per feature film, the average share of female composers per film wasonly 8%.
For 84% of films, the music score was the work of one individual composers. Womenin the sample were less likely than men to be the sole composer for a film.
Female composers worked on 10% of European feature films, whether alone or inteams. However, when women worked in teams, it was in the majority of cases inpartnership with a male colleague (within gender-balanced or male-driven teams).
As a result, only 7% of feature films in the sample had a female-driven team* ofcomposers.
* In this context, “female-driven” refers to features by a majority (≥ 60%) of female composers: by one individual female composer; by several
female composers; by teams of composers of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
51

1
A How are women represented among film composers?
Cumulatively, 10% of composers active in European feature films between 2017 and 2021 were women.
This share remained relatively stable over this time period.
As observed for other professional categories, the female share was higher for documentaries (12%) thanfor live-action and animated fiction films.
COMPOSERS: number and share of active composers*
by gender and by production year** (2017-2021)

COMPOSERS: number and share of active composers*
by gender and by film genre** (2017-2021)

10%

10%
402

402

9%
234

8%
1 146

2017

101

8%

12%

3 698
100

1 158

2018
Male composers

8%
1 103

2019

99

10%
703

80

2020

Female composers

12%

2 473

96

1 446

701

2021

3 698

188

2017-2021

Live-action fiction% of female composers

Documentary

Male composers

6

7%

78

Animation

Female composers

All genres% of female composers* Active composer: worked on at least one feature film between 2017 and 2021.
** The total number of composers does not equal the sum of composers by year or by film genre as an individual professional may haveworked on several films and film genres across the years.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

52

1
A How does the activity of female and male composers compare?
Comparatively, the level of activity of composers was slightly higher for male than for female professionals.
85% of female composers only worked on one feature film in the considered period, compared to 77%
of their male colleagues.

COMPOSERS: level of activity
by gender of composers (2017-2021)
In % of composers

In number of composers

6%
10%

9%

343

13%

85%

2 855

77%

36
23

1 film491

352

2 films≥3 films

Male composers

Female composers

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

Female composers
1 filmMale composers
2 films≥3 films53

B What is the average share of female composers per film?
When considering the proportion of women and men out of the total number of composers of each work, theaverage share of female professionals per film was 8% between 2017 and 2021.
This share was higher in documentary (11%) than other film types.

COMPOSERS: average share of female composers per film*,
by production year (2017-2021)

COMPOSERS: average share of female composers per film*,
by film genre (2017-2021)
10.6%

10.4%
9.7%
8.1%

7.8%
7.0%

8.1%
7.0%

7.0%

5.2%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2017-2021

Live-action fiction Documentary

Animation

All genres* Average of the shares of female composers calculated from the total number of composers for each feature film in the sample..
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE54

B Feature
Averagefilms:
shareweighted
of femalesharecomposers
per film,
by countrybyofcountry
productionof femalescreenwritersof production
The average share of female composers per film varied between 0% and 18% across European countries.

COMPOSERS: average share of female composers per film*,
by country of production** (2017-2021)
18%
16%
14%

13% 13% 13%

12% 11%
10% 10%

9%

8%

8%

8%

8%

7%

7%

7%

7%

6%

6%

6%

6%

5%

5%

4%

4%

4%
3%

3%
1%
0%

SE

LT

GB

FI

GR

IS

RO

DE

LU

CH

PL

NO

EUR

NL

BG

LV

ES

DK

SK

IE

FR

TR

CZ

SI

PT

BE

AT

IT

HU

EE

HR

MK

* Average of the shares of female composers calculated from the total number of composers for each feature film in the sample.
** The country of production is here defined as the main production country of feature films, as it appears in the LUMIERE database. This analysis excludes
production countries with limited coverage in LUMIERE, since the number of films in the database might not be representative of real production volume.
Production countries with a limited film production volume (sample comprising fewer than 10 feature films with information on composers between 2017 and2021) are also excluded from this graph.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE55

C What is the share of films by at least one female composer?
Female composers worked, whether alone or in partnership with other colleagues, on only 10% of feature films
produced between 2017 and 2021.
Female composers tended to work in partnership with other colleagues more often than men.
COMPOSERS: share of European feature films
by at least one female composer (2017-2021)

COMPOSERS: breakdown of European feature films
by at least one female composer (2017-2021)
By several
composers
34%

10%
By one femalecomposer66%

Films by at least one female composer

COMPOSERS: share of European feature films
by at least one male composer (2017-2021)

COMPOSERS: breakdown of European feature films
by at least one male composer (2017-2021)

By several
composers
17%

93%
By one malecomposer83%

Films by at least one male composer

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE56

C Feature films:What
Genderis thecomposition
share of AVoffiction
composers’
led byteams
female directors?
Among European feature films produced between 2017 and 2021:
7% were made by one individual female composer;
0.3% by several female composers ;0.04% by teams of composers of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
COMPOSERS: gender composition of teams of composers (2017-2021)
Feature films by female-driven* teams of composers

By several femalecomposers
By multiple
0.3%
composers
16%

By one femalecomposer7%

By one malecomposer77%

By composersof both genders
3%

By several malecomposers
13%

Mixed teams:
female majority
0.04%

Mixed teams:
male majority
1%

Mixed teams:
gender-balanced
2%

How to read this graph: 16% of feature films were made by several composers; 3% by composers of both genders; 2% by gender-balanced
teams of composers.
* In this context, “female-driven” refers to feature films by a majority (≥ 60%) of female composers: by one individual female composer; byseveral female composers; by teams of composers of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

57

C WhatWhatisisthetheshareshareofoffeature
AV fiction
films
ledmadeby femaleby female-driven
directors? teams of composers?
Between 2017 and 2021, only 7% of European feature films had female-driven* teams of composers.
This figure has slightly increased across the considered time period and tended to be higher for
documentary than for other film genres.
For the majority of films, the music score was made by one individual composer. However, when multiple
professionals collaborated on the music of a film, the composers’ teams were predominantly led by men.
COMPOSERS: share of feature films by gender composition ofcomposers’ teams, by year (2017-2021)

COMPOSERS: share of feature films by gender composition ofcomposers’ teams, by film genre (2017-2021)

3%

2%

2%

2%

3%

2%

2%

3%

1%

2%

92%

92%

91%

90%

88%

91%

92%

88%

94%

91%

6%

6%

7%

9%

9%

7%

6%

9%

5%

7%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2017-2021

Live-action fiction

Documentary

Animation

All genres

Female majority

Male majority

Gender-balanced teams

Female majority

Male majority

Gender-balanced teams* In this context, “female-driven” refers to features by a majority (≥ 60%) of female composers: by one individual female composer; by several
female composers; by teams of composers of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE58

LEAD ROLES

1

European feature films – LEAD ROLESThis section builds on information made available by IMDb, including the names of
the actors and actresses appearing in the main roles for each film. These data also
include the professionals involved in the dubbing of animated features as well as
the protagonists of documentary films.
Women accounted for 39% of all actors appearing in at least one lead role in a
European feature film between 2017 and 2021. Considering the share of eachgender out of the total number of lead roles per film, the average female share perfilm was 39%.
The vast majority of European films (83%) featured at least one female lead role.
Most feature films (78%) had a gender-mixed main cast which was mainly maledriven or gender-balanced. Only 17% of feature films in the sample had femaledriven teams* for lead roles.

* In this context, “female-driven” refers to features with a majority (≥ 60%) of female lead roles: one individual female lead role; several
female lead roles; a main cast of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
60

1
A How are women represented among leading actors in feature films?
Between 2017 and 2021, 39% of all actors playing a lead role in European films were women.
The share of active actresses remained relatively stable over this time period.
The share was higher for live-action fiction films than for other film genres.
LEAD ROLES: number and shareof active actors / actresses* in a lead role,by production year** (2017-2021)

LEAD ROLES: number and share
Of active actors / actresses* in a lead role,by film genre** (2017-2021)
39%
8432

39%
8432

42%
6585

38%

39%

2261

2389

2463

3 625

3 766

2017

2018

40%

Actors

3 728

41%
1619
2 358

41%
1629
2 353

2019

2020

2021

Actresses% of actresses

12 9632017-2021

32%
1774

9 145

Live-action fiction

12 963
237

3 701

36%

Documentary

Animation

ActorsActresses

415

All genres% of actresses* Active actor/actress: Played in at least one feature film in a lead role between 2017 and 2021; Includes professionals involved in the
dubbing of animation films, and protagonists of documentary films.
** The total number of active actors/actresses does not equal the sum of professionals by year or by film genre as an individual person may
have worked on several films and film genres across the years.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

61

1
A How does the activity of leading actresses and actors compare?
Comparatively, the level of activity of professionals appearing in a lead role was similar for both genders.
Between 2017 and 2021, over 80% of performers only appeared in one lead role in a feature film,
regardless of their gender.

LEAD ROLES: level of activity
by gender of professionals (2017-2021)
In % of actor/actresses

In number of actors/actresses

7%
11%

7%
10%

82%

83%

Actresses

Actors6 929

10 717

886

921

617

1 325

1 film2 films
ActorsActresses

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE≥3 films

1 film2 films≥3 films62

B What is the average share of female lead roles per film?
When considering the proportion of female and male roles out of the total number of lead roles for each film, theaverage share of female roles per film was 39% between 2017 and 2021.
The average share of female lead roles per film was higher for live-action fiction films (41%) than forother film types.

LEAD ROLES: average share of female lead roles per film*,
by production year (2017-2021)
37.8%

37.9%

39.4%

40.7%

40.3%

39.0%

LEAD ROLES: average share of female lead roles per film*,
by film genre (2017-2021)
41.4%

39.0%
36.0%
32.0%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2017-2021

Live-action fiction

Documentary

Animation* Average of the shares of female roles calculated from the total number of lead roles for each feature film in the sample.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

All genres

B Feature
Averagefilms:
shareweighted
of femalesharelead roles
per film,
by countryby
of country
productionof femalescreenwritersof production
The average share of female lead roles per film varied between 23% and 47% across European countries.

LEAD ROLES: average share of female lead roles per film*,
by country of production** (2017-2021)
47%
44%

43%

42% 42% 42% 41%
40% 40% 40% 40% 40%
39% 39% 39% 38% 38% 38%
38% 38% 38% 38%

37% 37% 37% 36%
36% 36% 35%
35%

33%

32%

23%

IS

SE

PT

PL

FR

LU

DE

ES

NL

DK

HR

FI

EUR

CZ

BE

HU

MK

GB

AT

NO

LV

IE

EE

LT

GR

SK

IT

CH

TR

RO

SI

BG

BA

* Average of the shares of female roles calculated from the total number of lead roles for each feature film in the sample.
** The country of production is here defined as the main production country of feature films, as it appears in the LUMIERE database. This analysis excludes
production countries with limited coverage in LUMIERE, since the number of films in the database might not be representative of real production volume.
Production countries with a limited film production volume (sample comprising fewer than 10 feature films with information on actors between 2017 and2021) are also excluded from this graph.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE64

C What is the share of films with at least one female lead role?
Between 2017 and 2021, 83% of European films featured at least one female lead role.

LEAD ROLES: share of European feature films
with at least one female lead role (2017-2021)

83%

Films with at least one female lead role

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERELEAD ROLES: share of European feature films
with at least one male lead role (2017-2021)

95%

Films with at least one male lead role65

C Feature films:What
Genderis thecomposition
share of AVoffiction
main cast
led by female directors?
Out of European feature films produced between 2017 and 2021:
2% included a female lead role and no male lead role;
3% included several female lead roles and no male lead role;
12% had a main cast with at least 60% of female roles.
LEAD ROLES: gender composition of main cast of European feature films (2017-2021)
Feature films with a female-driven* main cast

One malelead role4%

One female
lead role2%

Severallead roles
95%

Mixed teams:
female majority
12%

Several female
lead roles
3%

Several malelead roles
13%

Female and malelead roles
78%

Mixed
teams:
genderbalanced
33%

Mixed
teams:
male
majority33%

How to read this graph: 95% of feature films had a main cast with several lead roles; 78% had a gender-mixed main cast; 33% had agender-balanced main cast.
* In this context, “female-driven” refers to a feature with a majority (≥ 60%) of female lead roles: one individual female lead role; several
female lead roles; a main cast of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIEREC WhatWhatisisthetheshareshareofoffeature
AV fiction
films
ledwithby femalea female-driven
directors?main cast?
Between 2017 and 2021, about 17% of European feature films had a female-driven* main cast.
This figure marginally increased during the considered time period and was slightly higher for
documentary than for other film genres.
The share of films with a gender-balanced main cast was higher for live-action fiction (38%) than forother film types.
LEAD ROLES: share of feature films by gender compositionof main cast, by year (2017-2021)

LEAD ROLES: share of feature films by gender compositionof main cast, by film genre (2017-2021)

18%

33%

33%

33%

33%

32%

33%

38%

52%

51%

50%

48%

48%

50%

45%

16%

16%

18%

19%

20%

17%

17%

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2017-2021

Female majority

Male majority

Gender-balanced teams

30%

33%

58%

50%

12%

17%

Animated fiction

All genres

64%

18%

Live-action fiction Documentary
Female majority

Male majority

Gender-balanced teams* In this context, “female-driven” refers to features with a majority (≥ 60%) of female lead roles: one individual female lead role; several
female lead roles; a main cast of both genders with a female presence of at least 60%.
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory / LUMIERE

67

More information:www.obs.coe.int

patrizia.simone@coe.int