F-rating

The F-Rating is a rating to highlight women on screen and behind the camera.[1] Developed at Bath Film Festival in 2014, the F-Rating was inspired by the Bechdel Test based on a 1985 cartoon strip[2] by Alison Bechdel, and popularised in the 2010s by Anita Sarkeesian's Feminist Frequency blog, and by Ellen Tejle's A-rating[3] in Swedish cinemas.[4] In response to criticisms of the A-rating, Swedish film theorists Ingrid Ryberg, Anu Koivunen and Laura Horak wrote, "The A rating has proved to be an activist provocation that works, and it is important to ask why... The A rating is not about classifying films as feminist or not feminist. It aims to alert viewers who find female sociality compelling to films they might like, and so challenge the industry to make more such films."[5]

The festival developed the F-Rating in October 2014 "to take it a step further and highlight films which either had a senior figure in production who was female—a director or a screenwriter—or had very strong female leads or women's issues," according to festival director and F-Rating founder Holly Tarquini.[6] Tarquini told the BBC that films had to meet at least one of three criteria to receive the rating: "If our films have a female director, a female lead who is not simply there to support the male lead, or are specifically about women then they will receive an F-rated stamp of approval."[7]

In 2016, the F-rated founder, Holly Tarquini was invited to deliver a TED talk at TEDxYouth@Bath.[8]

Rationale

The F-Rating is a reaction to a phenomenon known as the celluloid ceiling, which has been documented internationally. "BFI figures showed that in 2011, 15% of all UK films released were directed by women, but in 2012, this went down to 7.8%.",[7] while a study by "the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University found females made up 15 per cent of protagonists, 29 per cent of major characters and 30 per cent of all speaking characters in the 100 top-grossing films of 2013."[6]

Bath Film Festival 2014: first implementation

Seventeen of the forty-two films received the F-Rating, included the First World War drama Testament of Youth, based on Vera Brittain’s memoir, and director Jean-Marc Vallée's true-life tale Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon.[9] Women's magazines Marie Claire[10] and Elle[11] both gave positive coverage to the rating and programme, which were also mentioned in UK Culture Minister Ed Vaizey's weekly bulletin.[12]

Subsequent implementation

In February 2015, the Bath Comedy Festival announced that it would be the UK's first F-rated comedy festival, with performers including Viv Groskop and Helen Lederer.[13] In March 2015, Komedia Bath arranged a meeting to encourage all Bath festivals, including the Bath Festival of Children's Literature and Bath International Music Festival, and arts organisations to make Bath the first F-rated city.[14]

The 2015 Bath Film Festival programme was 45% F-rated,[15] and attracted more attention.[16] In 2015, all the independent cinemas and film festivals in the UK were invited to join the F-Rating with dozens signing up to F-rated their programme.[17] In 2016, The Barbican became the 40th organisation to adopt the rating.

F-rated keyword added to IMDb

In January 2017, the F-rated keyword was added to IMDb.[18] By March 2017, there were over 22,400 films on IMDb tagged with the F-rated keyword.[19] The rating was defended by GQ Magazine.[20]

References
  1. "About".
  2. "dykestowatchoutfor.com » Blog Archive » The Rule". dykestowatchoutfor.com. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  3. A-rating
  4. "We talk to: Ellen Tejle founder of A Rate!". The Bechdel Test Fest. Archived from the original on 2015-05-21.
  5. Anu Koivunen (2013-11-27). "Swedish cinema's use of the Bechdel test is a provocation that works". The Guardian.
  6. "Bath Film Festival 2014: Movies with strong female credentials to receive special F-rated certificate". The Independent. 2014-11-09.
  7. "'F-rated' films shown at Bath Film Festival". BBC News. 2014-11-12.
  8. TEDx Talks (2016-12-05), Stories Shape Us | Holly Tarquini | TEDxYouth@Bath, retrieved 2016-12-07
  9. Ben Child (2014-11-11). "Bath film festival goes Wild with F Rating for feminist films". The Guardian.
  10. "Bath Film Festival: 'F' Rating Given To Films With Strong Female Leads - Marie Claire". Marie Claire. 2014-11-11.
  11. Diana Bruk (2014-11-10). "Bath Film Festival Announces 'F' Rating For Feminist Films". ELLE.
  12. "Bath Film Festival's F-Rating Goes Viral - Bath Film Festival". Bath Film Festival.
  13. "Bath Comedy Festival - F-Rating". bathcomedy.com.
  14. "Komedia » Blog Archive » Komedia Bath bids to make Bath the first F-Rated city". komedia.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-04-29.
  15. "Bath Film Festival 2015 programme" (PDF). bathfilmfestival.org.uk/. November 2015.
  16. Youngs, Ian (2015-12-04). "Can F-rated films help overcome sexism in Hollywood?". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  17. "We F-Rate".
  18. "F-Rating added to online film site". BBC News. 2017-03-05.
  19. "Most Popular "F Rated" Titles". IMDb.
  20. "Please Don't Use IMDB's New Feature to be a Dick". 2017-03-08.

Further reading
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