Audiovisual Collaboration diversity panellists urge for structural changes

The “Status Quo-Diversity” panel held in Haugesund August 25 was co-organised by New Nordic Films and Nordisk Film & TV Fond as part of its Audiovisual Collaboration 2021 industry meet-up.

The session was meant to spur dialogue between decision-makers and filmmakers, at a time when global movements such as Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, and audiences' hunger for different stories, are prompting structural change in the audiovisual industry.

The discussion in Haugesund coincided with Norway’s Minister of Culture Abid Raja’s announcement that fresh funds of NOK 4.5 million (€438,000) would be earmarked towards diversity measures, to be implemented by the Norwegian Film Institute.

Here are take-aways from the session, which can be STREAMED HERE.

Being and feeling different
Triggered by moderator Liselott Forsman, CEO at Nordisk Film & TV Fond to discuss their backgrounds, the panellists’ personal stories hinted at what diversity, and often inherent feeling of not fitting in, can entail.

Both Finnish/Iranian writer/director Hamy Ramezan (Any Day Now) and Norwegian/Guatemalan producer Elisa Fermanda Pirir (Mer Film) mentioned their migrant background.

Ramezan fled the Iran-Iraq conflict with his family and arrived in Finland by accident aged 10, while Pirir left Guatemala for Tromsø aged 16, in 2007. Anne Lajla Utsi MD at the International Sámi Film Institute and Forsman herself, opened up about their minority background respectively as a Sámi-born in Northern Norway, and Swedish-speaking Finn born in rural Finland.

Helen Ahlsson, film commission at the Swedish Film Institute said her film aspirations made her stick out from her own working-class environment in small-town Dalecarlia, Sweden, while Oslo-born Silje Riise Næss, film commissioner at the Danish Film Institute, mentioned the ‘city versus coastal/rural life’ as a sense of frustration in her youth.

Leading by example
Championing diversity and inclusion starts at home. Næss said having commissioners, educators from different backgrounds is the first necessary step.

Building trust, giving a chance
Ahlsson who works at the SFI, notably on talent development, said she was pleased that the SFI supported Nathalie Alvarez Mesen’s Directors’ Fortnight selected debut film Clara Sola, and that her second feature The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands received backing from the SFI’s Wild Card scheme. “It is essential to trust newcomers,” she said.

Pirir concurred with her. “People[financiers/commissioners] have to take risks. At Mer Film, I co-produce with Lithuania, Colombia among others. I recognise talents’ origin when I read a script. But I don’t need to “eat the same cake all the time!”, she said.

Ramezan said he got his first chance in Finland by applying to a short film competition backed by the Finnish Film Foundation, Yle and AVEK. “I had studied filmmaking in the UK and didn’t know anybody in the Finnish film industry, so that [short film competition] allowed me to get in touch with Finnish producers and it was easier then to do my next film,” he said.

More money
Utsi applauded the Norwegian government’s extra funding towards diversity but was hoping for larger grants at the Sámi Film Institute and Arctic Indigenous Film Fund. She did mention a greater commitment from NRK, which has earmarked NOK 100 million towards Sámi TV drama. “We have amazing projects coming,” she said.

More data
“Facts and figures are key” said Næss, for whom “anecdotal evidence” about representation is not enough. She also mentioned the challenge of interpreting diversity-related data.

Authenticity
Panellists agreed that good storytelling stems for truthful representation on screen and point of view. Utsi gave the example of Disney who agreed to get advice from a group of Sámi experts (including herself) to make sure Frozen 2 was culturally sensitive. “Disney went far to have a more authentic representation of Sámi people in the film,” she noted.

Good storytelling ahead of political agenda
Ramezan denounced conflicting messages regarding representation. He was told that he would have a better chance of getting funding by sticking to minority central characters. His own background was also mentioned as one of the reasons why he received support, which made him doubt his own artistic merit. “All I want is to tell a good story, not making it for political reasons or for the sake of representation,” he said.

Building bridges at home and internationally
All funding representatives said collaboration at home, inside and outside the industry, and internationally is crucial to foster change.

On an educational standpoint, Utsi said the Sámi Film Institute collaborates with Sámi University College, the Sámi Education Institute in Inari, Finland, and filmmakers in Gothenburg, while Næss stressed the Danish Film Institute’s excellent collaboration with the National Film School of Denmark, “where diversity is at its core” under Tine Fischer’s new leadership.

Looking at other role models, Utsi encouraged the Nordics to look at Canada, and the country’s strong financial and political commitment to support indigenous filmmaking and communities.

The Arctic Indigenous Film Fund and other international collaboration with partners in the whole Circumpolar Arctic- Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Sápmi and Russia- strengthens the film culture of each partner. The head of the Sámi Film Institute also presented the ‘Arctic Chills’ genre film initiative, which gives a voice to indigenous filmmakers from across the Arctic region.

What’s next?
Forsman said the panel in Haugesund was the first step towards a series of industry discussions about diversity and inclusion in the industry. Challenged by Norwegian producer Khalid Maimouni who asked for the private sector to take part in discussions, she welcomed the question, saying that the Audiovisual Collaboration 2021 platform is meant to build bridges and to expand themes from one discussion to another. She added that the next diversity session will include a larger cross industry panel.

Audiovisual Collaboration 2021 is organised by Nordisk Film & TV Fond and the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, under its Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

See our story: Traditional models need fine-tuning say Audiovisual Collaboration 2021 panellists CLICK HERE.

Watch the recorded session here: