More than four hundred individuals involved in the cultural sector have criticized Ukbar Filmes and the public broadcaster RTP for the absence of Black women, racialized women, women with disabilities, and trans women from the ‘Contado por Mulheres’ TV film project.
In an open letter released today, figures such as actresses Cléo Diára, Isabél Zuaa, and Sara Carinhas, director João Salaviza, director Pedro Penim, researcher Maria João Brilhante, and Teatro Griot stated that “the decision not to include Black women, racialized women, women with disabilities, and trans women, and their perspectives, is not a random gesture.”
“It is a strategic, political choice that perpetuates a narrow view of who can narrate, represent, imagine communities, societies, countries, worlds“, the document states.
The audiovisual project ‘Contado por Mulheres’, which will feature a new season of 20 TV films directed by Portuguese women and inspired by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, is at the center of this controversy.
The new season of films, currently in preparation by Ukbar Filmes in collaboration with RTP, was presented on June 18 at the professional meeting Conecta Fiction & Entertainment in Cuenca, Spain.
At the time, the production company indicated that the 20 TV films will address “a current and pertinent theme that concerns Portuguese society and humanity as a whole, inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda.”
Issues such as the housing crisis, youth unemployment, mental health, gender equality, migration, and refugees are among the topics to be tackled in the TV films, which will alternate between real and fictional stories, with production expected to begin after the summer.
The company emphasized that the aim is to focus “on stories that promote the integration of female directors in an increasingly challenging job market, promoting equal opportunities.”
The new season will feature directors Lúcia Moniz, Joana Botelho, Mónica Santos, Margarida Vila-Nova, Sandra Faleiro, Francisca Alarcão, and Maria João Bastos, among others.
Some directors from the previous season are returning to the project, including Ana Cunha, Rita Barbosa, Fabiana Tavares, and Cristina Carvalhal, the actress and director who signed the open letter released today.
The first films of the ‘Contado por Mulheres’ project were based on literary works and began airing on RTP in 2022.
The signatories of the open letter are questioning RTP about whether “mechanisms of inclusion, consultation, and transparency” were implemented in the selection process of the directors and are asking Ukbar Filmes if they are willing “to acknowledge this failure and take measures to correct the production model.”
“How do you justify the complete exclusion in both seasons of female artists, historically marginalized, whose work represents a real commitment to gender and inequality issues — many of whom have established professional careers and have been contributing significantly to a more fertile, plural, and transformative artistic and cultural sector?” they ask.
The Cultural Association Nêga Filmes, professor Inocência Mata, screenwriter Fernanda Polacow, writer Gisela Casimiro, actor Hoji Fortuna, director João Nuno Pinto, director Renée Nader Messora, actor Marco Mendonça, cultural manager Maria Vlachou, singer Selma Uamusse, actress Tita Maravilha, actor Welket Bungué, and director Zia Soares are among the signatories of the open letter.
The Lusa news agency has requested comments and is awaiting responses from both RTP and Ukbar Filmes.
