Structural and Cultural Challenges
Another barrier that emerged was the structural, historical, and cultural conditions of the screen-based industries. One participant highlighted how film has historically been used as a “storytelling tool in service of empire and oppression.” As part of the colonial project, film has been used to capture images of people and places in sovereign territories and supposedly in need of civilization.
“[Cinema] was used to explicitly oppress so many of us in so many ways, and to tell stories that are lies. We’ve been denied access to telling our own stories. We’re so far behind.
“So much of the machine of filmmaking is designed to do certain things and a lot of the stories women of colour need to tell don’t fit into those structures of storytelling and they don't get funded because people at top don't understand it.”
In a contemporary context, mainstream films still work to normalize white supremacy, patriarchal attitudes, and colonial ideology, she said.
This history also impacts how BIWOC benefit, or don’t, from the recent opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour in film. The participant noted that funding alone is not enough. Without “a support system or network that you trust or access to different things that are a part of it,” BIWOC encounter many roadblocks in making the films and series they want to see.
“We don't have the support to use those resources wisely. It's not just money, it's community and mentorship and all these different things. Arts funding bodies and the industry are doing this thing now: there’s a flood of opportunities and cash, but we haven’t been set up for success to receive those things in a good way and see through our projects in a good way.
“We end up making work that we’re not proud of, or working with abusive people, or getting pigeonholed into telling stories that we are expected to tell.”
A number of other participants spoke to the problematic beliefs and attitudes that are undergirding industry initiatives for diversity and inclusion. Whether they be programming streams at festivals, fellowships, or grant programs, several participants felt the decisionmakers behind “diversity” programs and funding generally expect and award only certain kinds of stories from people of colour, specifically those that explore their identities. One participant noted that only the films she made which dealt with her identity were selected by film festivals, whereas those with no mention of race or culture were not. Another participant said they didn’t apply to opportunities that were specifically for BIPOC because their work didn’t deal with race: “The [people] in charge…they don’t want to look at your own experience. They want to see how it relates to a struggle.”
“I don't want to just fill that quota for them so that they can say, ‘Hey, we are diverse.’ Sometimes they expect you to fulfill certain stereotypes about being a woman or being Latinx to be taken seriously as a minority.”
“I'm someone who doesn't make stuff about my race and my identity. And strategically that was a choice that I made because I was pigeonholed, so I moved away from it.”