Bumble’s Female Film Force Returns For 2019

28th February 2019 Dominic Whitlock

Bumble has announced that the Female Film Force will return for a second year following a successful inaugural competition in 2018.

The fund will once again make five separate donations of £20,000 to teams of female filmmakers. For the first time, entrants from France and Germany will be allowed to take part, as well as those from the UK.

Applications are now open until 20th March. A shortlist of 10 teams will be selected to pitch before the expert judging panel in June. The winning films will be screened at a showcase event in January 2020.

The new panel of 13 judges includes actresses Phoebe Fox, Archie Panjabi and Stacy Martin, as well as director Amma Asante and former CEO of Women in Film & TV Kate Kinninmont.

Founder of Sister Pictures Jane Featherstone, who is also on the panel, commented to Screen Daily: “The statistics are stark and the facts are simple – female filmmakers are underrepresented across all sectors of the international industry, and there needs to be an institutional shift in order to redress the balance”.

Despite women taking home more Oscar’s than ever before, 73% of the overall winners this year were male.

Bumble ran a similar competition for female DJs and music producers called “Making Moves in Music”.

The winner was revealed as 25-year-old Nicky Elisabeth on Wednesday. As part of her prize, the Dutch DJ will be performing at Mysteryland in The Netherlands.