Mary Immaculate College will host a seminar on March 3 2017 entitled New Horizons: Women in the Irish Film and Television Industries.
Coming in the same week as International Women’s Day (March 8) the event, organised by Dr Susan Liddy, will provide an opportunity for contributors to lend their voice to the debate and produce an informed, robust and inclusive discussion on how best to develop women’s greater role in Irish film and television, going forward.
It will also attempt to build upon last year’s hugely successful inaugural event, entitled Women in the Irish Film Industry: Moving from the Margins to the Centre, which addressed the current under-representation of women in the Irish film industry.
One of the contributors will be the acclaimed Melissa Silverstein, a writer and speaker with extensive expertise in the area of women and filmmaking. She is the founder and editor of Women and Hollywood, one of the most respected sites for issues related to women and film as well as other areas of pop culture.
Speaking in advance of her trip to Limerick Melissa said “Films are a way that people connect to each other. When stories about women are missing or when women are missing as the storytellers, our culture suffers. The narrative of our world is male and white, we fight each and every day to say this is not normal, this is not how it is supposed to be. We are half the world, our stories matter. We are here. We count. This is a fight for our culture and for our future. It is that important.”
Dr Susan Liddy, whose research shows that the Irish film industry is overwhelmingly male-dominated and lacking a strong female voice and vision, added, “Last year’s seminar provided a unique space to unpick the many gender specific challenges facing women. It also sent out a strong signal that for solid and lasting change to occur funding bodies would need to take the lead and seriously consider their gender policies.
“The Irish Film Board have made a start with their six point plan. Now twelve months on we will hear from them and other industry leaders so see what, if any, changes have been made to facilitate women carving out their rightful place in the film industry. The question posed at this colloquium is how do we build momentum going into 2017? To this end, the conversation will include both a national and international perspective,” Dr Liddy concluded.
New Horizons: Women in the Irish Film and Television Industries, #womeninfilm, supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and INNOVATE LIMERICK, will take place in TARA, Mary Immaculate College, Friday March 3 @ 9.30am. Early Bird booking fee of €15 includes lunch. (Full fee €25/ Students €10) Booking is essential as places are limited. For further information or to pre-book contact www.womeninirishfilm.wordpress.com or contact [email protected]
