Since 1 July 2021, the Austrian Film Institute has applied a gender budgeting framework in the allocation of public film funding. This approach is embedded in the Institute’s funding guidelines and forms part of its commitment to gender equality in the film sector.
Gender budgeting is a public policy instrument that integrates gender equality objectives into funding decisions. It examines how public funding is distributed and seeks to ensure that funding benefits all genders equitably. In the context of film funding, this means monitoring the allocation of funding according to the gender composition of the key positions directing, screenwriting and production and taking this information into account. The primary basis for every funding decision remains the qualitative assessment of a project’s artistic merits. Gender budgeting does not replace artistic evaluation, nor does it introduce quotas for individual projects.
Funding decisions are also guided by the public-sector principle of impact-oriented budgeting and the objective of promoting gender equality. In the areas of script development, project development and production funding, the Austrian Film Institute aims to achieve an overall balanced distribution of funding between projects led by women and projects led by men in key decision-making roles.
Gender Impact Assessment
Before funding decisions are made, all applications are analysed with regard to the gender composition of three key positions:
- Screenwriter
- Director
- Producer
The funding amount requested by each project is allocated virtually to the positions of screenwriter, director and producer, provided these positions are already attached to the project. Based on this assessment, the requested funding is assigned to either a virtual women’s account or a virtual men’s account.
Where positions are shared by people of different genders, the corresponding share of funding is allocated proportionally between the virtual accounts.
The results of this analysis are provided to the funding decision-making project commission prior to its meetings. Commission members are expected to consider this information as one element within their overall assessment and funding deliberations.
Following each project commission meeting, the actual funding awarded is recorded using the same methodology. This allows the Institute to continuously monitor the cumulative distribution of funding over the course of the year and across different funding stages.
Implementation & Targets
The Austrian Film Institute introduced gender budgeting through a phased implementation process. Interim targets were established during the initial years, leading towards the goal of gender parity across all funding stages. The funding target for women was set at 35% in 2021 and 2022, increased to 40% in 2023, and raised to 50% in 2024.The target remains a 50:50 distribution of funding resources across script development, project development and production funding between projects attributed to women and men, with a tolerance range of ±3%.
The monitoring process focuses on aggregate funding outcomes rather than individual funding decisions. This approach allows the Institute to pursue gender equality goals while maintaining project-based artistic and economic evaluation as the primary criterion for funding.
If monitoring indicates that the overall balance is moving away from the equality target, the project commission is encouraged to consider this imbalance in future funding rounds and reduce the gap within the following six months. If the equality objectives are not achieved, the Austrian Film Institute conducts an analysis of the underlying causes and reports its findings to its supervisory board. Based on these findings, adjustments to the methodology or accompanying measures may be proposed to support the achievement of the gender equality objectives.