Ageism in Film and TV: Will we ever grow out of our obsession with youth?

Despite all discussion about inclusion in the film industry, ageism doesn’t seem to get old. On the verge of International Women‘s Day, Filmnetzwerk Berlin, Berlin Feminist Film Week and Women+ Film Network Berlin present a discussion on the topic that is often forgotten and yet has strongly been shaping the representation of women* in the media.

Is it true that roles for people aged 50+ are scarce and older women* – especially when they are senior women* of color – become almost invisible on screen? Which challenges do we face in terms of age discrimination in casting and hiring? How does ageism determine the choices we make as writers, directors and producers? And will we ever grow out of our obsession with youth?

During our panel we will take a closer look at the representation of age in cinema, speak about the ways in which ageism limits careers and discuss possibilities to shift the narrative around aging.

Panelists:

Dr. Nataša Pivec is a creative academic, born in Slovenia, now living in Berlin since 2017. Got her Ph.D. degree in sociology of gender at Faculty of Social Sciences (Ljubljana, Slovenia), which focused on Othering and film. Has published several academic papers on sexism, ageism and popular media, runs her own blog “the Other matters” and lectured at several institutions (among others, HU Berlin). Ex-journalist, copywriter, DJ, but current cultural analyst, film worker, lecturer, researcher and consultant.

Greta Amend is a german actress, director, lecturer, researcher, former casting director, artist, and producer for film and theatre. She has been teaching actors and directors in european film and theatre schools, such as the National Danish Film School, the Danish National School of Performing arts in Copenhagen, the Actors Center, Oslo, and the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB). She was a casting director for more than 50 productions in film and television, and is currently working as a producer for film and theatre with her german-skandinavian group “Superbohemians”.

Sema Poyraz has been working as a film director, screenwriter and actress for film, television and theatre since 1980. She studied directing at the German Film an Television Academy Berlin, her graduation film Gölge (1980) is considered an early precursor of German-Turkish cinema. Since then, she has directed several feature films, taught at the Bilgi University in Istanbul and been a festival jury member. In 2013 she won the Golden Tulip as Best Actress at the Istanbul Film Festival and worked as an actress with directors such as Helma Sanders-Brahms, Tuncel Curtiz, Sinan Akkuș and Hakan Savaş Mican. She is currently a member of the ensemble of Maxim Gorki Theater.

Moderator:

Nastaran Tajeri-Foumani is a social worker, activist, musician, moderator and lecturer_researcher in the Department of Social Work at the Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin. She has a profound expertise in diversity, anti-racism & anti-discrimination, queer-feminism and empowerment. Her main focus is to gain social justice and equality in terms of education, gender, class and race and she aims to and ignite a larger understanding and practise of dialogue and active listening between people and in society. She also works as a moderator for Berlinale in the Panorama Section, as moderator and curator for the Xposed International QUEER Film Festival and is part of the programming collective of district D*Schule.

The discussion will be held in English and the entry is free of charge. You are welcome to stay for a get-together after the discussion and have a coffee with the members of Filmnetzwerk Berlin and the Women+ Film Network Berlin!

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