Dones Visuals

Dones Visuals is a non-profit, women-led collective founded in 2017 under the name Associació Promotora de Dones Cineastes i de Mitjans Audiovisuals de Catalunya. Its mission is to defend, promote and make effective the presence of women in the audiovisual sector. The association is based at the Centre de Cultura de Dones Francesca Bonnemaison (La Bonne) in Barcelona and counts more than 750 members from the Catalan audiovisual sector, including directors, producers, technicians and screenwriters. The organisation is inspired by the methodology of Anna Serner, then director of the Swedish Film Institute, who among other actions promoted the Nordic Women in Film directory. Dones Visuals shares objectives with the state-level Asociación de Dones Cineastes i de Mitjans Audiovisuals (CIMA). In 2019 it published the first digital directory of women professionals in the sector, a key tool for visibility and networking. Dones Visuals acts as a non-state regulatory body, challenging public cultural institutions such as the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies (ICEC) and the Film and Art Institute (ICAA), affiliated with the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Catalonia and Spain respectively. It insists that regulatory enforcement can help address inequalities and that institutions must adopt affirmative action programmes to tackle structural inequities and ensure a fairer distribution of public aid. Thanks to such advocacy, promoting gender equality has become a strategic goal for the ICEC. Beyond advocacy, the association runs concrete initiatives to foster a more equitable, diverse and inclusive environment: programmes such as Acció Curts, Acció Viver and the Directori, as well as activities like Dimarts de Vídeo, the Arxipèlag creation call, the DV Migradas short-film showcase and collaborations such as the 'Maternidades en pantalla' fiction recommendation guide with MaterScreen. It also organises political actions and panels at festivals, including a day for a feminist, anti-racist and decolonial audiovisual at the San Sebastián International Film Festival (SSIFF). Its work has been recognised with the 2019 Ciutat de Barcelona Award in Audiovisuals, a special mention at the 2020 Pepón Coromina Award of the Catalan Film Academy, and the Pepón Coromina Award itself in 2023. Dones Visuals continues to push for a fairer and more diverse entertainment industry in terms of both access and representation, envisioning an industry that not only offers opportunities but also produces feature films from a transformative perspective.

Dones Visuals was founded in 2017 under the name Associació Promotora de Dones Cineastes i de Mitjans Audiovisuals de Catalunya, with the aim of defending, promoting and making effective the presence of women in the audiovisual sector. It is based at the Centre de Cultura de Dones Francesca Bonnemaison (La Bonne) in Barcelona and today has more than 750 members from the Catalan audiovisual sector, including directors, producers, technicians and screenwriters. The association was inspired by the methodology of Anna Serner, director of the Swedish Film Institute, who among other actions promoted the Nordic Women in Film directory. Its objectives coincide with those of the state-level Asociación de Dones Cineastes i de Mitjans Audiovisuals (CIMA). In 2019, Dones Visuals published the first digital directory of women professionals in the sector, a tool to make visible the profiles of women working in audiovisuals. In May 2020, during the covid-19 pandemic, Dones Visuals issued an open letter demanding that feminism be one of the values considered when debating and making decisions about the current and future state of the audiovisual sector. In December 2020, it issued a statement about the nominations for the Gaudí awards, which it considered 'unequal in terms of gender and diversity'. The organisation has also acted as a non-state regulatory body, challenging public cultural institutions such as the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies (ICEC) and the Film and Art Institute (ICAA), affiliated with the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Catalonia and Spain respectively. It insists that regulatory enforcement can aid in addressing inequalities and that institutions must adopt affirmative action programmes to tackle structural inequities and ensure a fairer distribution of public aid. Thanks to such advocacy, promoting gender equality has become a strategic goal for the ICEC. Dones Visuals runs concrete initiatives to foster a more equitable, diverse and inclusive environment, including programmes such as Acció Curts, Acció Viver and the Directori, as well as activities like Dimarts de Vídeo, the Arxipèlag creation call, the DV Migradas short-film showcase and collaborations such as the 'Maternidades en pantalla' fiction recommendation guide with MaterScreen. It also organises political actions and panels at festivals, including a day for a feminist, anti-racist and decolonial audiovisual at the San Sebastián International Film Festival (SSIFF). Its work has been recognised with the 2019 Ciutat de Barcelona Award in Audiovisuals 'for its initiatives in supporting and making visible the work of women filmmakers, expressed especially through the promotion of the programmes Acció Curts, Acció Viver and Directori, and for its commitment to transforming androcentric imaginaries'. In 2020 it received a special mention at the Pepón Coromina Award of the Catalan Film Academy, and in 2023 it received the Pepón Coromina Award itself.

• 2023

  Received the Pepón Coromina Award.

• 2020

  Issued an open letter during the covid-19 pandemic demanding feminism be considered in audiovisual policy decisions.

• 2020

  Issued a statement on the Gaudí award nominations, which it considered unequal in terms of gender and diversity.

• 2020

  Received a special mention at the Pepón Coromina Award of the Catalan Film Academy.

• 2019

  Published the first digital directory of women professionals in the audiovisual sector.

• 2019

  Received the Ciutat de Barcelona Award in Audiovisuals.

• 2017

  Founded under the name Associació Promotora de Dones Cineastes i de Mitjans Audiovisuals de Catalunya.

Non-profit, women-led collective and non-state regulatory body advocating for gender equality, diversity and inclusion in the Catalan and Spanish audiovisual sector.

• Directori

  Digital directory of women professionals in the audiovisual sector, first published in 2019.

• Acció Curts

  Programme supporting short films by women, cited in the 2019 Ciutat de Barcelona Award.

• Acció Viver

  Development programme for women filmmakers, cited in the 2019 Ciutat de Barcelona Award.

• Dimarts de Vídeo

  Audiovisual programme for members to present finished video-art pieces.

• Arxipèlag

  Creation call organised by Dones Visuals, including an homage to Barbara Hammer.

• DV Migradas

  Showcase for short films by migrant women and gender-dissident filmmakers.

1. 1Dones Visuals | El directori de les dones professionals de l’audiovisualdonesvisuals.cat
2. 2Talent unbound: Dones Visuals' mission to bridge opportunity gaps in Spanish cinemadonesvisuals.cat
3. 3Dones Visuals - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Dones Visuals - Viquipèdiaca.wikipedia.org