IMDb adds F-rating to feminist films
21,800 films have been tagged with an F-rating so far
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Internet Movie Database (IMDb), which sees more than 250 million visitors per month, has adopted the ‘F-rating’ system to signpost films that were directed by women, written by women and/or pass the Bechdel test.
It was invented by Bath Film Festival director Holly Tarquini in 2014 and has since been picked up by more than 40 cinemas and festivals across the UK.
“The F-Rating is a great way to highlight women on screen and behind the camera,” IMDb founder and CEO Col Needham said.
21,800 films have been tagged with an F-rating so far, the criteria for which are as follows:
Any film which is either:
Directed by a woman
Written by a woman
Features significant women on screen in their own right
Frozen, American Honey and Bridget Jones’ Baby have earned a ‘triple rating’ as they meet all three, while other F-rated films include Metropolis, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Girl on the Train, Freaky Friday, Animal Farm and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
"The F-Rating is intended to make people talk about the representation of women on and off screen,” Tarquini said.
"It's exciting when new organisations decide to join us in shining a light both on the brilliant work women are doing in film and on how far the film industry lags behind most other industries, when it comes to providing equal opportunities to women.
"But our real goal is to reach the stage when the F-Rating is redundant because 50% of the stories we see on screen are told by and about film's unfairly under-represented half of the population - women."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments