Our History
Directed by Anastasia Mikova and Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the film WOMAN aims at giving women a voice with 2000 interviews conducted in more than 50 countries. To further pursue the work they began with this project, the creative duo and their team have decided to found an NGO, WOMAN(s), which stands for Women On Media And in News School. Its goal is to support the voice of women and young girls in the media.
Working in close collaboration with Anastasia Mikova and Yann Arthus-Bertrand, talented women journalists and their local crew have interviewed women around the world during more than 2 years. Extensive exchanges with these local crews have enabled us to measure the lack of opportunities available for women and girls to pursue a career in the audiovisual industry, and to realize how important it was that women themselves should be able to carry their message to the general public.
Both the media industry and civil society acknowledge how necessary it is for news content to reflect the diversity of the communities they cover and that the presence of female journalists and editors in the newsroom matters greatly when it comes to balancing their reporting. An increasing number of women in decision-making positions in the media, but also at all levels of organisation, is one of the key strategies for promoting gender equality in the media.
It is from this observation—and thanks to the experience of shooting in so many locations throughout the making of WOMAN—that the desire to create the association WOMAN(s) was born, in order to further support the expression of women through their empowerment within the media sector.