fight night

For Film’s Sake present Fight Night: A Poignant Display of Female Strength

For Film’s Sake‘s festival seeks to tackle the issue of diversity within the film industry, so we headed down to their closing party ‘Fight Night’ to show our support.

To celebrate the end of the festival, For Film’s Sake partnered with Corporate fighter, a 12-week training program ending with amateur fights for those enrolled. Hence the Fight Night title and theme, we were lucky enough to witness the culmination of their training.

We reached the grungy venue, COMMUNE in Waterloo (an old paint factory) and were greeted by the friendly For Film’s Sake team.

ffs fight night

We were pretty early and the boxing matches didn’t start for half an hour so we headed down the alley to catch the documentaries that we’re featuring in the festival. Sitting on bean bags with some refreshing Carton&co water, we watched Unladylike. This film did a great job of highlighting facts about the struggle women have in boxing. Did you know it was only in 2014 women’s boxing was added to the Commonwealth Games? Seems crazy.

Heading back to the main space, and grabbing a pint from Two Birds Brewing, we took our seats, ready for the boxing to begin. The female-only fights were intense and each filled the room with roars of encouragement for every one of the participants.

Of course, the fights were more of a representation of the reason behind the film festival than a serious competition. To remind us of this, posters were plastered around the venue featuring startling statistics about the inequality women are still facing within the film industry.

Here are some hard hitting facts for you to get your head ’round:

  • 85% of female directors never make a second or third film
  • Female representation in the film industry has not improved in 40 years
  • 80% of film school graduates are female yet 78% of the film workforce are male
  • 93% of all cinematographers are male
  • Females represent under 30% of speaking characters on screen
  • For every one female director there are 15 male directors

fight night 2

These statistics prove that women are not being given the same opportunities as men. Equal opportunities are still not present in today’s society.

Here’s hoping that For Film’s Sake keeps up the good work in making women’s voices heard in the industry!

-Tierney
Tierney loves a good arvo session of bubbles sat in the sunshine, is a serious shopaholic and is known for her bouncy blow dry.

To stay up to date with For Film’s Sake and their events, like their Facebook page.

Disclosure: The Plus Ones were invited guests of Handle Communications.
Image credit: Phil Erbacher.