Keep Festive, A New Anti-Harassment And Discrimination Organization, Will Host A Talk At Austria’s Tricky Women Festival

Last year, a group of international film festivals and distribution companies launched a new initiative to stand in opposition to any kind of sexual harassment or discrimination at industry events around the world. Now, the organization is planning its next get-together at Austria’s Tricky Women festival.

Organization details:

• The next Keep Festive presentation is scheduled for March 10 at Vienna’s Tricky Women festival. There, consultant and lecturer Meike Lauggas will speak about #we_do!, an organization that provides contact and counseling for filmmakers in cases of abuse of power, unequal treatment, discrimination, sexual assault, and violations of labor laws. The organization’s services are anonymous, confidential, and come free of charge to anyone working in the Austrian film and television industries.
• Keep Festive’s long-term plan is to continue hosting activities where, over time, a toolbox will be created that fest organizers and attendees can use to help prevent sexual abuse. The group is also aiming to establish a code of conduct that all members can follow and launch a training program for festival teams and volunteers that will teach them how to ensure that guests feel as safe and comfortable as possible while at their event.
• Initial Keep Festive members include Tricky Women (Austria), Ottawa International Animation Festival (Canada), Kaboom Animation Festival (The Netherlands), Go Short – International Short Film Festival (Netherlands), Anifilm (Czech Republic), Animafest Zagreb (Croatia), Annecy International Animation Festival (France), Fest Anča (Slovakia), Anibar (Kosovo), Turku Animated Film Festival (Finland), Fantoche International Animation Film Festival (Switzerland), Linoleum Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival (Ukraine), Viborg International Animation Festival (Denmark), Animest (Romania), Animateka (Slovenia), Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People (Greece), and Miyu Distribution (France).
• The first Keep Festive lecture took place in December of last year at Slovenia’s Animateka festival. There, psychologist Matic Munch discussed a range of topics related to the goals of Keep Festive. Munc’s talk is now available to stream on Youtube.