Racialized filmmakers still face barriers trying to break into industry, says Winnipegger

After years of working in the film industry, Jorge Requena Ramos says it felt like a place where he didn't belong.

And he says many other people who are Black, Indigenous or people of colour feel the same way.

Requena Ramos, who was born and raised in Mexico City and now lives in Winnipeg, has worked as a director, an assistant director and a producer, and has worked for production companies such as Omnifilm, Crown Media, Discovery, and Universal Pictures.

But he's since left the industry, saying while the unions are easy to get into, rising in the ranks to top-tier positions wasn't something he felt he could do as a racialized artist.

"I have a lot of friends who, like myself, have stepped outside of the film industry. We felt the same outsider syndrome when we were there," Requena Ramos said in a recent interview with CBC Manitoba's Weekend Morning Show.

According to a 2021 report prepared for the British Columbia local of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) — a union that represents a range of behind-the-scenes workers in the film industry — the percentage of racialized people on set is still very low.

In B.C., the racialized population sits at 38 per cent. But only 13 per cent of people working on film sets in 2016 were racialized, according to the report.

Manitoba has not yet done a comparable study. 

Diversity initiatives have been introduced in Manitoba, such as Film Training Manitoba's Summit for Women in Film Trades program, which aims to engage more women to work in the film industry. 

But Requena Ramos says the jobs minorities are hired for are in the lower ranks of production.

"It's irrelevant to hire all the bottom, minimum-wage positions, with racialized people. It only matters if key positions are occupied by BIPOC people." 

When filmmaker Mandeep Sodhi came to Canada from India in 2011, he made contacts in the Winnipeg film industry to try to get work. 

He was told he didn't have enough experience, despite having worked professionally in the United States and India.

"I considered myself equal and capable, even in Canada. I experienced a life extensively working in the same industry in two [other] countries," Sodhi said.

Today, he works professionally in the industry. But Sodhi has also created his own production company — a move made by many racialized filmmakers who decide to create their own space to work when space isn't made for them.

'Not one simple answer': IATSE

Nicolas Phillips, president of IATSE Local 856 — Manitoba's branch of the union — says IATSE is aware of the issue, but can only do so much since it's not the one employing filmmakers. 

"I recognize that there's people who come from greater barriers and we're looking at those kinds of things and we're trying to address them. It's not easy," Phillips said.

"There's not one simple answer, but we are open-minded. We welcome any input."

Adam Smoluk, the managing director at Film Training Manitoba, says filmmakers need to advocate for themselves and their work.

But Smoluk also recognizes that it's up to institutions and companies to attract workers from different areas of the public, and in that respect, there's more work to be done.

"If someone genuinely feels that they have not been engaged, they probably have real reasons for that," Smoluk said.

Requena Ramos says there are changes that could help, pointing to film productions that have come to Manitoba with diversity clauses in their contracts. 

In an effort to have a more culturally diverse film set, they often mandate a certain percentage of key positions to be held by racialized artists. Requena Ramos says he's seen it happen, so knows it's possible.

But unless those clauses are in place, the film industry at large doesn't mandate diversity hiring — something Requena Ramos thinks must change.

He also thinks employing racialized filmmakers will only become a priority if money is involved.

"I think economic incentive is the only way we can get past it," he said.