Within the context of the Agora Talks of the 65th Thessaloniki Film Festival, a discussion titled “A powerful perspective” was held on Wednesday November 6th at the MOMus-Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, in collaboration with Women in Film and Television Greece (WIFT GR). The panelists were: Fatih Abay, diversity and inclusivity officer at European Film Academy (Germany), Elena Athanasiadou, producer at Boo Productions (Greece), Chrysianna Papadaki, director and screenwriter (Greece) and Anna Germanidi, director of exhibition & programming from Modern Films (UK). The moderator of the discussion was Elena Christopoulou, Film-trained holistic coach (Greece).
The discussion revolved around the representation of queer women on the screen and in the film industry, touching upon the following questions: What changes are we celebrating, what intentions and goals are we setting, and what horizons are we opening up for our filmmakers and audiences? How can the Industry support and contribute to the social impact queer women filmmakers are bringing forth? The discussion was prefaced by Agora manager Thanos Stavropoulos who gave the floor to Elena Christopoulou. The moderator welcomed the panelists and the audience.
The discussion began with a comment by Anna Germanidi, who mentioned that she has observed a significant change in queer representation in cinema. However, she emphasized that she has also taken notice of certain unrealistic representations and uneven opportunities in the movie industry, as queer films about femininities are not abundant and are considered to be niche. She admitted that the overall change is real, but we have a long way to go in order to reach true equality, while underlining the importance of community mobilisation and support. The conversation continued with Chrysianna Papadaki, who mentioned that she originates from the social research sector, which allows her a more penetrative look. She stressed that simply increasing queer content does not directly translate into noteworthy content and underlined the importance of qualitative versus quantitative evaluation of queer representation. She stated that it is unfortunately common for queer artists to be met with a degree of reluctance by the funding sources.
Then, Elena Athanasiadou took the floor, stating that a simple idea or a queer-themed project is not certain to be developed into a completed movie. She underlined the importance of inclusion of queer themed projects in educational programs, but also their distribution in movie theaters and film festivals. She then pointed out the crucial role that film festivals play in the familiarization of the audience with different aspects of cinema. Finally, Fatih Abay spoke from an institutional perspective, stating that in recent years, many professionals express the need to claim their own identities. However, regarding European films, he notices a lack of representation from female directors who wish to tell queer-themed stories. He concluded by emphasizing the importance of avoiding polarization between the industry and the queer community, while establishing a frame of discussion and communication by both sides.
