A new chapter in reaching equity and inclusion on the global animation festival circuit has begun with the launch of Keep Festive, an initiative that stands against any sort of sexual harassment and that helps festivals organizers to prevent any type of discrimination, from sexism to sexual harassment, to ensure that these events remain fun for everyone. The project was conceived in 2022 and is backed by an international collective of film festivals and distribution companies.
“By gathering as many festivals as possible, by organizing public events dealing with harassment, we show that there is a need and that we must address it as a group, to make sure we include as many opinions as possible,” Co-Founders Luce Grosjean and Clémence Bragard told ASIFA. “Public shaming makes no sense to us, neither basic revenge. It is by preventing, notifying directors that they are being watched, and temporarily banishing them from certain events that we hope to make things change.
“We would also like to work on how we can reintegrate some people who have misbehaved during some events. We don’t want to be cops, and we have a philosophy of ‘restorative justice.’ What is important to us is that festival attendees and staff members feel good and safe during events and if anything bad happens, they can feel good again to attend other places.”
The core of Keep Festive is hosting a certain number of activities that will help in creating:
- a toolbox for festival organizers and attendees that will help to prevent any kind of sexual abuse
- a code of conduct that members can follow
- a training program for festival staff and volunteers to make their guests feel more comfortable and safe.
Events involved in Keep Festive are Tricky Women (Austria), Ottawa International Animation Festival (Canada), Kaboom Animation Festival (The Netherlands), Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen (The Netherlands), Anifilm (Czech Republic), Animafest Zagreb (Croatia), Annecy International Animation Festival (France), Fest Anča (Slovakia), Anibar (Kosovo), Turku Animated Film Festival (Finland), Fantoche International Animation Film Festival (Switzerland), LINOLEUM Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival (Ukraine), Viborg International Animation Festival (Denmark), Animest (Romania), Animateka (Slovenia) and Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People (Greece). French film outfit Miyu Distribution is also on board.
The spark the would become this initiative was struck back in 2019, when Grosjean, Founder & Director of Miyu Distribution, issued a powerful statement about the abusive experiences shared by herself and many women in the industry:
“We hear stories. Direct testimonies. Women being harassed, touched without their consent, feeling pressured to do something they may not feel comfortable doing … Festivals that will let this kind of behavior happens without reacting, I will also consider them as non-safe places for women. I will warn our female directors before sending their films to their festivals, and if our films are selected, we will make sure that the female directors will have the information before going so they can protect themselves.
“Festival directors: you are the people who have the most power today in the little animation short film industry. You give visibility to these men, legitimacy. By inviting them, you are saying that their behavior is okay. And then you bring them into a party full of young women. This shouldn’t have to be said, but apparently it does: you are responsible for the safety of the female guests at your festivals, and you are responsible for the behavior of the men you invite.”
The first official Keep Festive lecture was held at the Animateka festival in December 2022. The talk, led by a psychologist Matic Munc, covers a wide range of topics related to sexual behavior and has now been released on YouTube (watch it here).
As Keep Festive continues to work on the creation of a toolbox for international festivals and their attendees, the collective has just announced an upcoming talk in Vienna as part of the Tricky Women festival.
On March 10, Meike Lauggas will speak about #we_do! an organization that provides contact and counselling for filmmakers in case of abuse of power and unequal treatment, discrimination, sexual assault and violations of labor law — anonymous, free of charge and confidential for everyone in the Austrian film and television industry. In addition to counselling and anonymous documentation of cases, various preventive measures are developed and offered to contribute to structural change and improvement.
More information on the talk is available on the Tricky Women website here.
