The disparity between men and women in the Italian cinema industry remains significant, though some improvements are noted. This is confirmed by data from the fifth 2024 report on ‘Gender Balance in Italian Film Crews’ by the Alta Scuola in Media, Comunicazione e Spettacolo at the Università Cattolica. The report notes that film production experienced a major slowdown in 2024 due to the suspension of the tax credit incentive.
The findings will be presented tomorrow at the Venice Biennale during the ‘Annual Seminar in Gender Equality and Inclusivity in the Film Industry’ at 2 PM at the Hotel Excelsior. The event will also be available via live stream.
The report analyzed eleven professional roles, finding eight are still predominantly male-dominated. A strong female presence is recorded only in the costume department (78%), makeup (69%), and set design (57%). In contrast, men account for 87% of cinematography roles, 90% of music direction, and 92% of sound engineering. The same holds true for directing; despite a continuous increase in the number of female directors, 80% of feature films are still helmed by men. Furthermore, films directed by women operate with lower budgets, with 27% costing under €200,000, though their average production costs have grown faster over the last eight years than those of films directed by men.
The data also shows that female directors continue to focus heavily on documentaries. However, a significant increase in female-directed fiction films was recorded between 2017 and 2024.
The Università Cattolica will also participate in two other events on September 4th: ‘How to Enhance Italian Cinema: The Challenges of Training,’ promoted by the ALMED Master’s in Management of Image, Cinema, and Audiovisual (MICA) and the M.B.AD. Master in Audiovisual Business at 11 AM at the Hotel Excelsior; and ‘Lombardy: A Region for Cinema’ at 10 AM. The latter event will be attended by Regional Culture Councillor Francesca Caruso, ALMED Director and Lombardia Film Commission President Mariagrazia Fanchi, and Undersecretary for Education Paola Frassinetti.