Men Still Outnumber Women On Animation Festival Juries. Here’s A Plan To Change That.

Earlier this month, during Animafest Zagreb, some members of the festival’s short film jury came to a realization. The three of them — directors Ruth Lingford and Michaela Müller, and producer (and Cartoon Brew contributor) Tünde Vollenbroek — were all women. Their jury was thus predominantly female (the two other jurors, directors Boris Labbé and Chen Xi, were men; the five are pictured above).

It struck them how rare this is at animation festivals; men generally outnumber women on juries. In some cases, there are no women at all. “We wondered, is it actually that difficult for festivals to think of women for juries?” Vollenbroek tells Cartoon Brew. “And if that’s the case, then we can help, by compiling a long list of fantastic female jury members!”

The list — which is posted below — took shape over dinner, as the jury and a few friends traded names. “We simply wrote down the first names that came to mind, thinking of women who’ve juried before, directed festival hits and/or play a prominent industry role,” says Vollenbroek. “So obviously this list is just a starting point… But if one night can bring us to 160 names already, just imagine how many more female jurors are out there.”

This initiative complements similar efforts to raise the profile of women in animation. The website Femmes d’Anim hosts a user-created list of women active in the French industry. Punanimation’s directory covers “women, trans and non-binary friends” working in animation and motion graphics.

Juries have a special influence in this movement, not just through their role in picking prizewinners but also because of their visibility during festivals. “Representation is important, and festival juries onstage play a big public role in it,” adds Vollenbroek. “We just want to be helpful to festival directors and other decision makers to consult this list when looking for jury members.” Their ambition is already being fulfilled: the list was submitted to the board of the European Animation Awards, which is consulting it ahead of its third edition in December.

I ask Vollenbroek whether all-female juries could be an effective tool in the push for parity. “In my personal view, extreme change requires a certain type of extreme action,” she replies. “The jury gender balance has been skewed towards men for a looong time, and in order to straighten it, we need to skew towards women for a while. That’ll make it the new normal to see women on stage, which in turn makes way for the next new normal that considers gender balance a no-brainer. So regularly opting for all-female or mostly-female juries – for sure, let’s get this movement going! With this endless list it’ll be easy peasy.”

The list’s creators stress that what follows is just a start. Cartoon Brew invites suggestions in the comment section below.

• Floor Adams (Netherlands, director)
• Agnė Adomėnė (Lithuania, producer)
• Sabine Andersone (Latvia, producer)
• Vanja Andrijević (Croatia, producer/distributor)
• Maria Anestopoulou (Greece, curator)
• Shiva Sadegh Asadi (Iran, director)
• Joan Ashworth (United Kingdom, director/researcher)
• Daphna Awadish (Israel/Netherlands, director)
• Louise Bagnall (Ireland, director)
• Andrea Bauer (Germany, curator)
• Signe Baumane (United States/Lithuania, director)
• Anna Bergmann (Germany/Russia/US, director)
• Lily Bernard (France/Ireland, art director)
• Margaret Bialis (United States, director)
• Marieke Blaauw (Netherlands, director)
• Olga Bobrowska (Poland, curator/researcher)
• Jamie Bolio (United States/Netherlands, curator/PR)
• Jeanette Bonds (United States, curator/director)
• Ivana Bošnjak (Croatia, director)
• Clémence Bragard (France, curator)
• Anne Breymann (Germany, director)
• Sylvie Bringas (United Kingdom, producer/educator)
• Marie Bro (Denmark, producer)
• Emily Brundige (United States, director)
• Réka Bucsi (Hungary, director)
• Anna Budanova (Russia, director)
• Celia Bullwinkel (United States/Canada, director)
• Špela Čadež (Slovenia, director)
• Hsiang Chin Moe (United States, educator)
• Jericca Cleland (Denmark/United States, director)
• Doris Cleven (Belgium, curator/educator)
• Martha Colburn (United States/Netherlands, director)
• Eleanor Coleman (France/United States, distributor/producer)
• Em Cooper (United Kingdom, director)
• Laura-Beth Cowley (United Kingdom, journalist/researcher)
• Sarah Cox (United Kingdom, director/producer)
• Lisa Crafts (United States, director/educator)
• Eva Cvijanović (Canada, director)
• Anca Damian (Romania, director)
• Vessela Dantcheva (Bulgaria, director)
• Jantiene De Kroon (Netherlands, producer/writer)
• Charlotte De La Gournerie (Denmark/France, producer)
• Marge Dean (United States, producer)
• Annemie Degryse (Belgium, producer)
• Nancy Denney-Phelps (Belgium/United States, journalist)
• Nienke Deutz (Netherlands/Belgium, director)
• Céline Devaux (France, director)
• Anna Eijsbouts (Netherlands, director/educator)
• Lise Fearnley (Norway, producer)
• Maureen Ruth Furniss (United States, researcher/educator)
• Renata Gąsiorowska (Poland, director)
• Sophie Koko Gate (United Kingdom, director)
• Maja Gehrig (Switzerland, director)
• Luce Grosjean (France, distributor/producer)
• Mascha Halberstad (Netherlands, director)
• Anna Heuninck (Belgium, director)
• Moe Honan (Ireland, producer)
• Elizabeth Ito (United States, director)
• Dahee Jeong (Korea/France, director)
• Moїa Jobin-Paré (Canada, director)
• Tal Kantor (Israel, director/educator)
• Claire Keane (United States, concept artist)
• Brooke Keesling (United States, educator/recruiter)
• Kristine Knudsen (Norway/Germany, producer)
• Michelle Kranot (Israel/Denmark, director/educator)
• Ru Kuwahata (Japan/United States, director)
• Ellie Land (United Kingdom, director)
• Caroline Leaf (Canada/United States, director)
• Lorène Lescanne (Denmark/France, producer)
• Cristina Lima (Portugal, curator)
• Niki Lindroth von Bahr (Sweden, director)
• Ruth Lingford (United Kingdom/United States, director)
• Cerise Lopez (France, director)
• Carolina López (Spain, curator)
• Sarah Lugthart (Netherlands, educator/researcher)
• Chintis Lundgren (Estonia/Croatia, director)
• Lori Malépart-Traversy (Canada, director)
• Tess Martin (Netherlands/United States, director/curator)
• Anete Melece (Switzerland/Latvia, director)
• Hanneke Metselaar (Netherlands, director)
• Natalia Mirzoyan (Russia, director)
• Yoriko Mizushiri (Japan, director)
• Chris Mouw (Netherlands, producer)
• Lucija Mrzljak (Croatia/Estonia, director)
• Michaela Müller (Switzerland, director)
• Alizée Musson (France/United Kingdom, writer/educator)
• Daron Nefcy (United States, director)
• Vera Neubauer (United Kingdom, director)
• Delphine Nicolini (France, producer)
• Sarina Nihei (Japan, director)
• Kim Noce (Italy/United Kingdom, director)
• Jeanette Nørgaard (Denmark, director)
• Elena Ø Alexa (Denmark, producer)
• Annaida Orosz (Hungary, curator/educator)
• Aneta Ozorek (Netherlands/Poland, curator)
• Marta Pajek (Poland, director)
• Nina Paley (United States, director)
• Corrie Francis Parks (United States, director/educator)
• Olga Pärn (Estonia, director/educator)
• Agnès Patron (France, director)
• Michaela Pavlátová (Czech Republic, director)
• Viktoria Pelzer (Austria, curator)
• Kaisa Penttilä (Finland, director)
• Regina Pessoa (Portugal, director)
• Emmanuèle Petry Sirvin (France, producer)
• Helen Piercy (United Kingdom, educator/director)
• Jayne Pilling (United Kingdom, researcher/curator)
• Bouwine Pool (Netherlands, director)
• Jelena Popović (Canada, producer)
• Julia Pott (United Kingdom/United States, director)
• Joanna Priestley (United States, director)
• Joanna Quinn (United Kingdom, director)
• Britt Raes (Belgium, director)
• Karolien Raeymaekers (Belgium, director)
• Annegret Richter (Germany, curator)
• Sarah Saidan (Iran/France, director)
• Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre (Canada, director)
• Martina Scarpelli (Italy/Denmark, director)
• Dorien Schetz (Belgium, producer)
• Anette Schindler (Switzerland, curator)
• Veronika Schubert (Austria, director)
• Allison Schulnik (United States, director)
• Tracy Shaw (United Kingdom, producer)
• Olesya Shchukina (Russia/France, director)
• Tamara Shogaolu (United States/Netherlands, director)
• Tina Smrekar (Slovenia, producer)
• Rebecca Sugar (United States, director)
• Aya Suzuki (United Kingdom/Japan, animator)
• Bella Szederkényi (Hungary, director/producer/educator)
• Lana Tankosa Nikolic (Denmark, educator/producer)
• Wiep Teeuwisse (Netherlands, director)
• Suzie Templeton (Netherland/United Kingdom, director)
• Aliki Theofilopoulos (United States, director)
• Luca Tóth (Hungary, director)
• Nora Twomey (Ireland, director)
• Terhi Väänänen (Finland, producer)
• Lois van Baarle (Netherlands, concept artist)
• Sarah Van Den Boom (France, director)
• Jenny van den Broeke (Netherlands, director/producer)
• Marlies van der Wel (Netherlands, director)
• Naomi van Niekerk (South Africa, director)
• Yvonne van Ulden (Netherlands, curator/educator)
• Karin Vandenrydt (Belgium, curator)
• Viviane Vanfleteren (Belgium, producer)
• Anastasiya Verlinska (Ukraine, curator)
• Marie Vieillevie (France, director)
• Tünde Vollenbroek (Netherlands, producer/curator/journalist)
• Saskia von Virag (Switzerland, producer)
• Eva Lee Wallberg (Denmark, director)
• Chi-Sui Wang (Taiwan, curator)
• Lindsay Watson (United Kingdom, producer)
• Manu Weiss (Switzerland, director/curator)
• Regina Welker (Germany, director)
• Gerta Xhelo (United States, producer)
• Dawn Yamazi (United States, recruiter/educator)
• Maya Yonesho (Japan/Germany, director)
• Anna Zača (Latvia, curator/researcher)
• Jennifer Zheng (United Kingdom, director)
• Petra Zlonoga (Croatia, director)
• Marilyn Zornado (United States, director)