The process of finding female Catalan film directors is a surprisingly difficult task. The big name that always pops up is Isabel Coixet, director of The Secret Life of Words, Maps of Tokyo and one of the 18 short films in Paris, je t’aime. And while there are others, Marta Balletbò-Coll, named the “Spanish Woody Allen,” and Celeste Carrasco, who worked as first assistant director on Balletbò- Coll’s Honey, I Sent the Kids to the Moon, it does remain a male dominated industry.
Celeste recently joined Gemma Cubero as co-director on Ella es el Matador, a film produced by their company, Talcual Films. While these women are at the head of the pack, unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be much of a following. The Ley de Cine (Cinema Law) in Cataluña, created in 2007 to help fund films in the regional language, has now introduced what they call “positive discrimination”, extra bonuses in grants for female directed films.
Ignasi Guardans, the director of the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts of the Ministry of Spain, announced to the Representatives of Congress’ Cultural Commission the intention behind the grants in September of 2009. Under the current Ley de Cine for Cataluña films are evaluated for grant consideration regarding cost, quality and other factors. With the new addition to the law, films will also be looked at regarding their level of female participation, mainly if they give women top jobs on set.
However, the notion of “positive discrimination” caused many readers of the press to dislike the idea of such specified grants. They feel that aid should be given out based on the quality and level of interest for a specific
film, not solely because it is being directed by a woman. It is true that women in the industry need more of a voice – making a Google search for female Catalan directors produce pages of results instead of a few names – but perhaps part of the general public has a point. Women should be given equal opportunities, not more of an opportunity to succeed. After all, female leaders in the industry like Isabel Coixet and Marta Balletbò-Coll are leading the way for up-and-comers like Celeste Carrasco with determination, not “positive discrimination.” AP
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