Trend of ‘De-gendering’ in Cinema strengthens

With a claim to be “more inclusive for actors of different inclinations,” some film festivals have begun combining male and female acting awards into a single, genderless award.

The Academy Awards (Oscars) may soon follow suit following the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. Academy CEO Bill Kramer confirmed to Variety that they are evaluating gender-neutral award categories at the Oscars, one of cinema’s most popular reward mechanisms.

“We will explore this with our awards, membership, equity and inclusion committees, and our Board of Governors,” Kramer said.

Diversity being eradicated

However, this change in awards is interpreted by some as a move to “increase ideological hegemony” and “uniformization” in cinema circles. Director Mesut Ucakan is among those who criticize this trend.

“I see such changes as part of activities against the existence of humanity. Destroying the differences in the existence of life means destroying the meaning of life,” he stated.

Ucakan argued that the art world is under hegemony, saying: “The silver screen, which has always been under the guidance of global capital, is increasingly becoming one of the main dynamics of social degeneration. With the power of global capital, another order is imposed on cinema in organizations such as the Oscars. The genderless award is one of the visible practices of this.”

Stating that it would be inaccurate to evaluate acting in festivals in a genderless way, Ucakan said: “Men and women have their own psychological behaviors. Artificial coercion, no matter how much we want it, will not make men and women the same, and the repercussions of the situation will not be positive.”

First ‘Genderless Award’ was to be given in Türkiye

In 2021, the Berlin Film Festival became the first major international film festival to distribute genderless acting awards. Interestingly, however, the first attempt to give genderless awards in cinema was made in Türkiye.

It was announced that the 10th Malatya Film Festival, planned to be held in 2020, would give a genderless actor award. However, the festival committee backed down from this decision after facing reactions, resulting in the cancellation of the festival.