Canon Brings Female Trailblazers Together To Advancing Gender Equality & Celebrating Women Empowerment 

Canon Middle East (CME) and Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) announced today their upcoming panel discussion on ‘Women in Filmmaking: In the spotlight and studying landscape of Cinema and Media today in Middle-East and Africa’ to be held at Women’s Pavilion, Dubai Expo 2020. As part of the company’s endeavour to celebrate women change-makers in the creative industries, a noteworthy panel consisting of women filmmakers from the Middle East and Africa will be brought together on 18^th November 2021 at the Women’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. The panel discussion is envisioned to celebrate the creative efforts of women filmmakers who make an immeasurable contribution to the enrichment of the industry and to discuss how the industry can reinvent itself to reduce gender disparity. The Expo 2020 Dubai Women’s Pavilion, is dedicated to celebrating the efforts of women in creative industries in order to reaffirm Expo’s commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Women’s pavilion is a platform that celebrates the significant parts that women, known and unknown, have played throughout history and continue to play in the present day, based on the principle that when women thrive, humanity thrives.

Cinema – A Social Catalyst

Cinema has long been revered as a powerful and transformative tool to create awareness and change in society.  While the film-industry acts as a catalyst of global change, it still remains heavily male-dominated with vast discrepancies between the numbers of male and female workers. The under-representation of women in an industry that stands as a stimulant for social change, growth, progress and development, is a critical issue that needs to be addressed at global events such as the Dubai Expo 2020. In an effort to shed more light on this matter, Canon’s panel discussion will involve women from the film industry who shattered the glass ceiling across the Middle East and Africa such as UAE’s first female Film Director/Producer and CEO of Nayla Al Khaja Films and Motivational Speaker – Nayla Al Khaja from Dubai, Sara Shazli from Egypt who directed the critically acclaimed movie ‘Back Home’ and Chioma Ude from Nigeria – the Executive Director of Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF). The discussion will delve deep into gender representation issues across the industry, hindrances that are keeping women from entering this billion-dollar industry as well as celebrate the victories of women trail-blazers taking a leaf from their books for aspiring women film-makes, whilst exploring newer opportunities arising as a result of the pandemic.

Flourishing Film Industry – Hotbed Of Opportunities

With the ever-increasing popularity of films as well as the introduction of new marketing and distribution platforms such as IPTV, digital newspapers, DTH, and digital cable, in addition to online sales of music and movies, the industry is certainly headed for a major economic boost. According to the Middle East Movies & Entertainment Market Report, 2021-2028, the Middle East movies and entertainment market size is anticipated to reach USD 3.57 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 8.5% during the forecast period. Furthermore, the Saudi Arabia region is foreseen to remain at the forefront regarding market share and is projected to account for a total market share of 27.5% in 2028. “These figures are proof enough to demonstrate that the film industry has enormous potential to explore, expand and generate opportunities for women thus allowing them to break the societal barriers and become financially independent. What’s more is that the history of women in film-making in the Middle East goes back to 1926, when a female director gave Arab cinema its first feature-length film. As a company, our relentless effort is to pave the path of empowerment for all members of society regardless of their gender. The film industry today has the power to unlock equal opportunities for women and men, there are so many opportunities to be explored. As demonstrated by our ‘Women Who Empower’ program that is running across the Middle East and Central and North Africa, there are an abundant number of talented women out there who want to showcase their talent and creativity. It is crucial that more platforms such as Women’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 are created to fortify these voices that echo the sound of change, progress and development for our society,” commented Mai Youssef, Corporate Communications and Marketing Services Director – Canon Middle East and Canon Central and North Africa.

Putting Female Film-Makers At The Forefront

Thus, the evolution of filmmaking in the region, and the continued participation of women serves as a symbol of change in the film industry that has only just begun and needs to be fortified further. The same sentiment is reflected across Africa with gender inequality persisting as a major challenge stalling the continent’s equal growth. According to a new UNESCO report, about 5 million people currently work in the film sector in Africa and that contributes $5 billion to the continent’s GDP. The report highlights that Africa’s film industry is booming and has the potential to create 20 million jobs and generate $20 billion in revenues annually. However, women are largely underrepresented in the creative roles across the continent particularly in the Central African region where the estimated share of women in films is less than 10 per cent. Thus, highlighting the hindrances faced by women to breakthrough in the industry as well as challenging the patriarchal structures that rule the film industry is crucial for the progress of women and society at large. Encouraging women to ask the right questions as well as empowering them by opening avenues of opportunities has been Canon’s mission which will further be reflected at the Women’s Pavilion Expo 2020. Canon’s panel discussion to be held at Women’s Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020 will highlight all these issues in addition to more and will be moderated by Vijaya Cherian