Kering Group, Sundance Institute pledge support to women in film

French conglomerate Kering Group is continuing its support of women through a collaborative effort with the Sundance Institute.

Kering will launch its collaboration with Sundance Institute, the “Women at Sundance” Fellowship Program, at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival Jan. 21-31. Kering has pledged a number of initiatives toward women’s issues ranging from curbing domestic violence to protecting female students on campus from sexual assault.

Film equality
The Women at Sundance Fellowship program will provide year-long support to six female filmmakers. Kering’s program will also include a special training workshop for the 2016 Women at Sundance Fellows.

Kering’s objective for the program is to help talented filmmakers overcome obstacles they may be facing while working toward their shared goal of a career in film. As part of the fellowship, six filmmakers from Sundance Institute will be matched with industry leaders for one-on-one mentorship, coaching and educational and networking opportunities.

“Women make up 50.8 percent of the United States population and yet only 4.2 percent of the 100 top-grossing films are made by female directors,” said François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of the Kering Group, in a statement. “However, each year for the last 13 years, 25 percent of American directors at the Sundance Film Festival have been female.

“I am thus very excited and proud about Kering supporting ‘Women at Sundance’ Fellows. Empowering women to succeed and encouraging a more diverse film industry is essential when we consider the impact that films have on our ways of thinking and behaving,” he said. “Sundance Institute is doing this in a very pragmatic and exemplary way.”

Kering is also further developing its “Women in Motion” program with Sundance Institute. The program will host the selected Fellows for a curated training session to inspire the women to develop their leadership skills.

A seminar talk will be held in April 2016 to further promote “openness and diversity” in the film industry. The Women in Motion Talk will be held in New York.

In March 2015, the conglomerate introduced its Women in Motion initiative at the Festival de Cannes.

During Festival de Cannes, Women in Motion consisted of talks in which attendees will delve into the role of females within cinema and established new awards to be given out during the festival to honor those championing women in film. Kering has had a longstanding relationship to female causes as well as the arts, particularly the film community, so this program brings together both of its brand values (see story).