France is proud to support Women in Cinema
13th April 2021 – Celebrating producers Guneet Monga, Sandrine Brauer, Sreyashi Sen
As part of the Generation Equality Forum, France is carrying forward the Charter of Commitments for Cultural and Creative Industries (Charte pour l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes dans les secteurs culturels). This charter aims at fighting sexist representations, sexual and gender-based violence and harassment in the film, radio, TV, music, video games, advertising, as well as children and young people’s literature and toys.
In this framework and on the occasion of his official visit in India on 13th April 2021, Minister Le Drian celebrated proactive initiatives to promote women in movies and the audiovisual industry such as Indian Woman Rising and Collectif 50/50.
On this occasion, Minister Le Drian said: “India and France share the same passion for cinema. I was proud to congratulate Indian and French women producers for their Indo-French collaborations and for their work towards gender equality in this field. The Embassy of France in India will also play its part, through this agreement with the Collectif 50/50. Gender equality is a foremost priority of France’s foreign policy”.
In the evening, Minister Le Drian addressed Indo-French cooperation in cinema and the promotion of gender equality in this industry. He met with Ms Guneet Monga, Producer & CEO, Sikhya Entertainment, an Indian producer of the Indo-French joint productions “The Lunchbox” “Masaan” and “Taj Mahal”, and founder of “Indian Women Rising – A Cinema Collective”. The Minister conferred upon her the French award of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres for her contribution in the field of cinema.
“This award surely has me and my family name on it, but it is dedicated to every little girl who has a dream. I want to tell little girls everywhere: dream freely and create fearlessly, the universe is always conspiring in favour of the brave”.
Guneet Monga“It’s not just about breaking glass ceilings but cleaning the sticky floors. Women need to make more films telling stories of women. Work together WITH men to do so. It’s not only about breaking bastions and boys’ clubs but co-creating as producers, directors and writers. Not women producers, women directors, women writers. Gender agnostic language will create gender agnostic behaviour and do away with gender envy. As a woman producer of colour, I believe in this evermore.”
Sreyashi Sen
During the course of the evening, Minister Le Drian presided over the signature of an agreement between the Embassy of France and French Collectif 50/50, represented by its co-president, French producer Sandrine Brauer, which commits the Embassy to promote equality and diversity in its audiovisual cooperation with India, in particular by providing equal opportunities to male and female professionals.
“We are thrilled that the agreements signed between the COLLECTIF 5050 and the French Embassy in India will build a policy towards equal rights between men and women. Hopefully, it will be a concrete stepping stone towards signing this agreement in more foreign countries in the coming months.”
Sandrine BrauerDiscussion on Women in Cinema: Stronger Together
With the participation of producers Guneet Monga, Sandrine Brauer and Sreyashi Sen. Moderation by Christine Cornet.
For confirmations, appointments, queries please reach out to:
- Shaifali Jetli-Sury at [email protected] / +91-9811261088
- Reghu Devraj at [email protected] / +91 98104 25993
A special portrait and group shot by LA Times Photographer, Stephanie Cornfield will be made accessible free of rights on 14th April 2021 in addition to photographs related to the investiture of Ms Guneet Monga and the signing of the 50/50 Charter.
