Female Power in Documentaries East/West
Consider the global status of a woman in 2020. Documentaries are a special window into the experiences of women in all fields of activity. Documentary film, compared with feature filmmaking, has historically provided a more welcoming and accessible environment for female filmmakers. Although the number of female documentary filmmakers is constantly growing, they are still underrepresented in the industry. In order to achieve dramatic changes in this regard, we have invited key members of the European documentary scene to share their experiences. Together, we would like to talk about possible changes and ways to encourage more women to undertake powerful roles in the field of documentary filmmaking.
Moderator: Vera Gaszner (Madoke, Hungarian Documentary Association)
organized by MADOKE
The discussion is in English.
Tamara Tatishvili has been working in the audiovisual sector since 2002. In 2004, she co- founded and served as executive director of the Independent Filmmakers’ Association – South Caucasus (IFA-SC). In 2008 and 2009, Tamara was based in London and worked for BOP Consulting, overseeing research, strategy, planning and evaluation for culture, media, digital industries and innovation. She was the director of the Georgian National Film Center (GNFC from 2010 to 2013. She was acting as the Georgian representative to European Cinema Support Fund – EURIMAGES – as well as the Georgian representative in the European Film Promotion (EFP). Since 2014, she curates high-level conferences for Cinema Backstage (Odessa International Film Festival); consults Bridges East of West Film Days at Bozar and acts as strategy manager for European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA). Since February 2020 Tamara is appointed as Head of Training for MEDICI – Film Funding journey.
Paula Alvarez Vaccaro (born in Argentina) is an award-winning journalist, scriptwriter, producer, and visual artist with over twenty-five years of experience working in film, radio, printed media, and TV. She founded production company Pinball London in 2009 to bring international stories in all genres focusing on storytelling about gender, LGBT, human rights, immigration, class dynamics, and our planet. Since 2004, she provides training on pitching, production, impact producing, gender and implicit bias for international organizations such as British Council, Eurimages, Circle Doc Accelerator, GoodPitch, ProPro Austria, Los Cabos FF, BAM Bogotá, UNAM Mexico, and Documentary Campus, among others. Within Pinball London, she also leads Pinball Audiences, to provide impact producing consultancy, and strategy. She is a Sundance Alumna, a mentor and member of the European Women's Audiovisual Network (EWA), a member of the the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA), a member of the European Film Academy, and Vice-president of the European Producers’ Club.
Susanne Kovács is a TV director from the Danish Media and Journalism School. She previously studied fine arts and narrative storytelling in Germany, and was trained in filmmaking at the European Film College in Ebeltoft, Denmark. It Takes A Family is her first mid-length documentary, and was part of the Twelve for the Future Workshop in 2015-2016. Susanne participated in the IDFAcademy in 2016 with the film.
Eszter Cseke and her husband Andras S. Takács are award-winning Hungarian journalists and documentary filmmakers of On The Spot, Central Europe’s most acclaimed documentary series. With just two small broadcast cameras and no extra crew, Cseke and Takács have always gained unique perspectives in the most delicate environments. Each year, Cseke and Takács have focused on a new and compelling subject for the series, from living with ethnic tribes in Africa and Papua, being embedded with fighters in the Middle East, getting to know children of dictators or travelling the world and to examining birth in a myriad of cultures. Over the years, the program has garnered a great deal of international recognition. They received the Golden Nymph for Best Documentary at the 53rd Monte Carlo TV Festival, the Press Freedom Award in Strasbourg from the Council of Europe, the Prize for Best International Short Film at the American Documentary Film Festival and the Gold Plaque at the 50th Chicago International Film Festival Television Awards.
Kata Oláh is a producer and director. Since her focus has shifted to directing a few years ago, her films have received several national and international awards. Her first feature length documentary film, The Bar Mitzvah Boys has been nominated to compete in the PRIX EUROPA 2018. In 2019, she was awarded the Best Editor prize for her TV documentary Couture Behind the Iron Curtain by The Hungarian Film Academy. Her short documentary Mignon received the Best Short Documentary award at the Budapest International Documentary Festival. She is currently in late post-production with her feature length documentary My Digital Nomad. Her short fiction, independent production Zuniverzum shot during the pandemic, has been purchased for HBO Go.
