The future is female for Toronto Film Fest’s Share Her Journey campaign
The Toronto International Film Festival launched Share Her Journey in 2017 to address systemic gender inequity across screen industries. What began as a five-year, three-million-dollar push has since become an ongoing platform that runs year-round programs rather than a single campaign with a fixed end date.
Share Her Journey centers on mentorship, skills development, media literacy, and youth engagement. Its stated goal is to foreground women’s perspectives in film and to move from stated intention toward measurable accountability across every level of the industry.
2016 Festival Selections
Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen, Mira Nair’s Queen of Katwe, Deepa Mehta’s Anatomy of Violence, Amma Asante’s A United Kingdom, Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest, Erin Heidenreich’s Girl Unbound and An Insignificant Man, from Khushboo Ranka & Vinay Shukla all screened as part of the main selection during the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. Those seven titles represented the launch-era snapshot that prompted the campaign.
Cameron Bailey Quotes
Cameron Bailey, the festival’s artistic director, noted that gender inequity is systemic in the screen industries and that change must occur at every level, including placing more women in key creative roles. Bailey also framed the mission around developing and showcasing female talent through the festival and year-round initiatives, underscoring the value of foregrounding women’s perspectives to transform how audiences see the world.
Campaign Structure and Activities
The platform continues to run three-month residencies for female directors, speaker series on industry practice, and educational resources for teachers. These activities now operate as an indefinite, year-round effort rather than a time-limited campaign, with programming that extends beyond the festival’s September dates.
Current Representation and Impact Promise Targets
Approximately 23 percent of the 2025 Official Selections were directed by women. Under the Impact Promise, TIFF aims to reach 35 percent women-directed films in Official Selections by 2028, 50 percent representation in the Public, Canadian, and Next Wave programmes, and more than 20 percent in Cinematheque programming. The platform also targets 50 percent representation across digital channels that collectively reach nearly one billion impressions annually.
TIFF 50/50 and Ticket-Based Support
TIFF 50/50 has returned as an audience engagement mechanism, with proceeds from every ticket sold directed toward Share Her Journey. The renewed emphasis is on converting stated goals into measurable accountability rather than relying on intention alone.
Groundbreaker Award and Recognition
The Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award now serves as a formal recognition component. Michelle Yeoh received the inaugural honor, with subsequent recipients including Patricia Arquette and additional honorees tied to TIFF milestones. The award highlights trailblazing women whose careers intersect with the festival’s programming and advocacy efforts.
Broader Industry Context on Women Directors
Women directed 13 percent of the top 250 grossing films in 2025, up from 9 percent in 1998. These modest industry-wide gains underscore why Share Her Journey continues to track representation at TIFF and to push for sustained progress across key creative roles.
Share Her Journey already has a number of high profile advocates, including Nigerian filmmaker Omoni Oboli (Okafor’s Law), Carol Nguyen (This House Is Not Empty), Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes), and Ann Marie Fleming (Window Horses). Read all about Share Her Journey here.
