Programs — Breaking Through The Lens

2024 Events

CELEBRATING WOMEN in competition

berlin FILM FESTIVAL

when

Sunday, 18th February 2024
Berlin Film Festival

Grand Hyatt Hotel, Berlin, Germany

A vibrant cocktail party overlooking the red carpet, hosted together with Campari, in celebration of Women in Competition at Berlinale.

We welcomed first-time Directors Margherita Vicaro (Gloria!) from Italy and Meryam Joobeur (Who Do I Belong To) from Tunisia, as well as Director Claire Burger (Langue Étrangère) from France.

2023 Events

CELEBRATING WOMEN AND CINEMA

GALA DINNER AT ST. REGIS

VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

When

Tuesday, 5th September 2023
Venice Film Festival

St Regis Hotel, Venice, Italy

An intimate Gala Dinner celebrating women directors at the Venice Film Festival, hosted together with Pinko and Nastri D'Argento within the renowned San Regis Hotel.

Guest of honour: Belgian Director Fien Troch of “HOLLY,” one of only five feature films directed by women in competition at Venice.

ACTIVATING CHANGE GALA

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

When

Tuesday, 23rd May 2023
Cannes Film Festival

Campari Lounge, Palais Des Festival

Led by acclaimed moderator Wendy Mitchell of Screen International, "Activating Change" began with a round table featuring four industry trailblazers, each sharing their unique experience on the challenges and opportunities facing women in the film industry. Following this was a networking cocktail hour.

The round-table featured:
Frederic Boyer, Artistic Director of Tribeca Film Festival, Former Head of Programming at Cannes Director’s Fortnight for six years
Shruti Haasan, Actor/Activist, 3 x winner of Best Actress at South Indian International Movie Awards
Molly Manning Walker, Writer/Director of How To Have Sex, winner of Un Certain Regard Jury award at Cannes 2023
Mounia Wissinger, Head of Marketing and Distribution at Protagonist Pictures, represented War Pony, winner of Camera d’Or at Cannes 2022

INDUSTRY NETWORKING MIXER

BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

When

Sunday, 19th February 2023

Berlin Film Festival
Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1st Floor
Educational and Mentorship Opportunity

2022 Events

CENTS AND SENSIBILITY SHOWCASE

TORONTO film festival

When

Monday, 12th September 2022

Toronto International Film Festival

Luma Restaurant
TIFF Bell Lightbox, 2nd Floor
BTTL Finalist Presentations

OFFICIAL UNVEILING OF THE 2022 FINALIST PROJECTS

cannes film festival

When

Tuesday, 24th May 2022
Cannes Film Festival

Campari Lounge, Palais Des Festival

On May 24th, we announced the ten finalist projects of our 2022 cycle at the Cannes Film Festival. This marked our first live event in over three years. We were proudly hosted by Campari, inside the Palais des Festivals. The Campari lounge proved to be a stunning location overlooking both the red carpet and the Riviera waterfront. The finalist projects be presented to the industry at the Toronto Film Festival in late September.

View 2022 Finalists

Sundance 2022: A REEL STORY
A virtual fireside chat followed by a networking mixer

Join Film Fatales, Breaking Through The Lens, EWA Network, and Wscripted on Friday January 28th 10am PT / 1pm ET / 7pm CET for an international virtual event.

Hosted by Akua Gyamfi of the British Blacklist, the event will begin with a 45-minute fireside chat with Moroccan-American documentary filmmaker Rita Baghdadi (Sirens) and two time Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Ondi Timoner (Last Flight Home) to talk about the art of telling underrepresented stories for the screen.

Following the talk will be a curated educational session, where writers and directors will be invited to join genre-based breakout rooms to discuss storytelling for Film & TV, learn from each other and meet potential creative partners.

This event will offer meaningful insight into the process of telling underrepresented stories, while providing an opportunity for writers and directors of all marginalized genders to connect with fellow storytellers from across North America & Europe.

This event is open to the public and a video replay link of the fireside chat will be available for 48 hours after. The session will not be recorded to create a safer space for active participation.

TIFF 2021: “From a Moment to a Movement: how film finance is changing the industry for women and non-binary filmmakers.”

This past year, historic steps were taken to address the last 100 years of inequality against women and non-binary filmmakers. However, much work is left to be done. In this seminar, we brought together innovators from each stage of a film’s life cycle — creative, finance, production, sales, and distribution — to speak about how mindful finance can fuel a more inclusive world of entertainment. Sponsored by Kathryn M. Moseley’s One Two Twenty Entertainment, this talk ultimately explores how improved access to film finance can propel us from a moment to movement.

Panelists:
Effie Brown, CEO of Gamechanger Films
Funa Maduka, Producer and former head of Netflix International Originals Delphine Perrier, leading sales and finance expert of Highland Film Group River Gallo, filmmaker, actor, writer and activist
Renee Tab, founder of Sentient Entertainment
Angelique Jackson, Senior Entertainment Writer at Variety (moderator)

Click play below to watch the recorded playback: