Suffragette News

With the film 'Suffragette' premiering at the opening of the London Film Festival last night, the issue of the representation of women in the media has come to the fore. Meryl Streep in an interview with 'The Today Programme' expressed how 'enraged' she is about the lack of females in top jobs, not just in film, but everywhere. Carey Mulligan said "our industry is sexist. It's taken 100 years to make a film about this enormous human rights movement, and that's incredible to me."

The interviewer quoted some shocking statistics:

In 2014, the top 10 female actors earned just over half what the top 10 male actors did.
In 2014, only two out of the top 100 films were directed by women.
In 2014 there was no female actor over 45 in the lead or co-lead of any of the top 100 films.

Meryl Streep said, "It has to do with the distribution of films, the way films are financed. Of the 10 top buyers for films in the United States across all territories, there's not one woman. If the people who are choosing what goes out into the multiplexes are all of one persuasion, the choice will be limited and then that will be a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Feminist protesters used the occasion to stage a 'die-in' at the premiere to raise awareness about domestic violence.