Turning political discourse into action, the Parliament has been steadily supporting the dissemination of film productions directed by women or portraying strong and inspiring female characters through its LUX Film Prize. Over the past 11 years, the prize has helped promote more than 100 films. In its 12 editions since its creation in 2007, the prize has been awarded to five women, thus nearly achieving equality. Many other of the winning films, such as ‘Woman at war’ or ‘Ida’, tell the stories of strong women and inspiring role-models (see box). More importantly, the overwhelming success of these films at international film festivals refutes claims that selecting films directed by women involves a lowering of standards, as has been implied by sources wishing to justify their marginalisation.
The quality of films directed by women has also been evidenced by research carried out in seven EU countries from 2006 to 2013. Taking 2013 as a reference year, the results showed that overall, a higher proportion of such films participated both in national and international festivals and won more awards than films directed by men (see Figure 4). In spite of this, films directed by women were significantly under-represented at A-list festivals.
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