European Film Market to Host Day-Long Event on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Festivals

European Film Market to Host Day-Long Event on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

One of the world’s most prominent meeting places for members of the entertainment industry is set to highlight the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Variety reports that the European Film Market (EFM) is hosting a day-long event “in an effort to set the agenda for better representation — both on and off screen — in Europe’s film and television industries.”

Set to take place February 16, the Equity and Inclusion Pathways Seminar will “bring together roughly 100 industry professionals from 21 countries, representing both their respective media industries as well as regional and pan-European organizations and advocacy groups working toward greater diversity and inclusion,” per the source. Organizers are aiming to bring “sustainable, lasting change” to Europe’s screen industries by “bring[ing] about better policy-making, measures, and initiatives regarding inclusion, equity and accessibility,” Faysal Omer, head of EFM Producers, explained.

The event will include keynotes, presentations, conversations, and debates, “followed by a vote to determine five overarching resolutions for the assembled industry representatives centered on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility,” Variety details.

Moderators include diversity, equity, and inclusion specialist Yolanda Rother and Adriana Chartrand, Téléfilm Canada’s Lead Indigenous Initiatives and Content Analyst. Among the topics set to be addressed is “problematic representations of underrepresented groups onscreen, focusing particularly on the trans community.”

“The initiative was conceived in part as a response to the murder of George Floyd and other events that catalyzed the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S.,” Variety explains.

Themba Bhebhe, head of Diversity and Inclusion at EFM, said that he and Omer were “struck by the momentum of the global uprisings of the summer of 2020, but also by the apparent disconnect that we as Black Europeans and film professionals experienced in the European film industry’s response or, in many cases, lack of response. While “a lot of lip service was paid [and] there was a plethora of open letters,” the pair “didn’t feel that the industry had truly received the memo.”

The seminar was conceived as an annual event and will take place at the EFM through 2025.

“There’s a sense of urgency,” Omer emphasized. “Europe has been behind in the conversation and its policies for a long time, but the gap is closing quite fast.”

The EFM is taking place February 16-22 this year.