Directors UK Women’s Committee Chair describes lack of female film directors 'appalling' in response to new BFI statistics

UPDATE: Directors UK has now conducted its own research into the level of women directors working in UK television and compiled a report called Women Directors - Who’s Calling the Shots? Women Directors in British Television Production. You can see the key facts and recommendations and read the full report here.

The Chair of the Directors UK Women’s Working Group Beryl Richards criticised the national film industry for its neglect of female directors this morning, after new research from the BFI showed a decline on the already small number of British women making films.

According to the research, British films directed by women made up a total of just 7.8% of last year's output, a decrease of more than 8% year-on-year. This translates into 165 male directors and only 14 female directors, the lowest proportion since 2007.

In an article published in the Telegraph today (24th July), Richards described the lack of women involved in the British film industry as "appalling, but just not generally noticed".

Richards commented on the absence of women in the top 200 most popular films and the prevalence of action, thriller and fantasy genres, explaining, "there's significant gender stereotyping and misconceptions about who's allowed to direct in which genre. Women just don't get access to those areas of film."

To read the BFI Statistical Yearbook in full, click here.