The F Rating

Diverse representation within film and on screen has been a concerning factor for decades. Whether it’s the number of writers and directors that are women, or how many from a cast are disabled or people of colour, it has been an alarming characteristic of the industry for many.  

Hollywood’s Diversity Report reported in 2022 that, in theatrical movies, women made up just 39% of lead actors on screen and that only 15% of directors were female.

Statistically women have gained some ground as writers for movies, rising to 27% from 17% in 2019, and increased acting roles to 41% overall, however, female recognition across the board is still at a worrying low.

Surprisingly, despite being one of the highest grossing movies of the decade, the female directed, and female led movie ‘Barbie’ only walked away with only 1 Oscar this year, for best song. A male focused song no less, ‘I’m just Ken’. 

Thankfully, many within the industry are now challenging this outdated way of thinking and supporting a growing cause that aims to prove that diversity is a necessity within the profession. Women are now starting to be regularly featured in film festivals up and down the Northwest, all thanks to a small group of feminists including Holly Tarquini.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, ‘The F rating’ came about when Baths Film festival manager (Holly) stumbled upon two news articles, one stating that of the top 250 films at the time, fewer than 5% were directed by a woman and the other highlighting the slow rise in appreciation for tests proving that women were being pushed aside in certain film projects.

Speaking with Northwest Film, Holly recounts how it was even more concerning that out of the 95% (that were not women), there was a regular theme of who was directing these big movies. It was never working class men, it was never a disabled person, never trans, nor gay, but was regularly a white, English speaking, American.

Holly said, “This only ends up giving us a very narrow minded way for us to view the world on screen.”

So, in 2014 Holly decided that the Bath film festival would foster some basics from the currently successful rating system, ‘The Bechdel Test’. Applying similar guidelines to the films that she screened, so that their audiences would know exactly who they were supporting and to raise awareness of the imbalance in gender equality.

For those that don’t know, ‘The Bechdel test’ is used to ascertain the extent of female involvement in a film and their significance within the production through three simple questions. Asking whether the work features at least two female characters and whether or not they have a conversation about something other than a man. ‘The F rating’ takes a similar approach and acts as a literal stamp on such films, showing that it exhibits diversity and promotes the inclusivity of women.

Holly says, “There is this belief that the best will simply rise to the top. That all you have to do is be brilliant and success will follow, but sadly the evidence shows that there is still, to this day, brilliant women that do not get seen, whereas there are mediocre men that are always at the top by default.”

“Films that are written and/or directed by a woman also have considerably less funding than that by a man. So, the F rating is a tool we use to highlight them and so far, has been really useful in elevating the women within the industry.”

However, Holly states, “The statistics have gotten worse recently after they started to get better. The film industry is failing, and people just don’t want to take those risks, and sadly women are just seen inherently as risky it seems.”

Thankfully ‘The F rating’ has been adopted by more than 100 film festivals to date, including the film festival in Bolton.

Bolton’s film festival director Adrian Barber said, “Last year, 40% of the films we showed were led by women. Likewise, our figures with the LGBTQ community and BAME are way above the national averages and that’s by design.”

“When we first started out, our female coverage was only at 18%, so its effectively doubled. That’s not through any kind of manipulation on our part, it’s just been a question of sharing the F rating with our audience members and it’s driven the filmmakers that we see returning each year.”

It’s been proven that if the BFI (British Film Institute) doesn’t see a diverse range of people involved then they just simply wont fund your film. Their ‘Diversity standards criteria’, states that for films to acquire funding, they must have a recognisable 50/50 split in gender roles. So, it helps to be conscientious of this when starting out as a new filmmaker.

Still, this shouldn’t shape the narrative of a film and is not always something that even female film directors first consider when producing work.

Manchester based film director Jane Lo, recently started touring festivals across the Northwest with her latest short film, ‘Gobstopper’, which focuses on the lives of two young women and their love for their drug troubled mother (played by Kelly Condron).

Jo says, “It was purely coincidental that the core characters were women, these were just the stories that I wanted to tell. It’s interesting to me that some audiences still see women in films, talking about female relationships are they are instantly assumed by many to only be liked by women. It’s just not true. As a woman myself, I grew up enjoying predominately male driven movies and still do now.”

“For me, when putting a film together I focus more on making sure that my crew has a fair balance of women, and not just in traditional roles such as costume design. I always want women to feel empowered in whatever role they chose to take on. For me, that’s where the F rating truly benefits us as a gender, boosting equality and strengthening diversity.”