Canada must “do better” in providing accurate data to resolve knowledge gaps in the Canadian film and TV industry about inequities in funding distribution for documentary creators who identify as Indigenous, Black or racialized, according to a new report.

The DOC Institute has published its first-ever Funding Analysis for BIPOC Documentary Content in Canada, which says it was hampered by a lack of data as it looked into the funding distribution and barriers to public funding and IP ownership that exist for documentary production led by filmmakers who are Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC).

The 16-page report commissioned by the DOC Institute was funded by Ontario Creates and conducted by Vancouver, Toronto and London-based consulting firm Nordicity, which analyzed three years of funding provided to BIPOC documentary creators in Canada from 2018 to 2020. The data was “limited due to the lack of detailed historical demographic data available from funders,” according to a news release, which noted that “funders differed in whether they collected data on content, creators, or both.”

The data for the survey was collected directly from Telefilm Canada, the Canada Media Fund (CMF), the National Film Board (NFB), and TVOntario (TVO). The consulting firm also requested data from CBC, but the pubcaster wasn’t able to provide it.

“We collectively decided that these funders covered a significant and representative portion of documentary funding in Canada,” Nikitha Gopal, principal author of the report and senior analyst at Nordicity, tells Playback Daily.

The report stated that TVO was the only funder from the study that collected data on funding for BIPOC-led documentaries and BIPOC creators, while Telefilm Canada and the NFB were only able to provide data on Indigenous documentaries and creators. The CMF was only able to provide data on Indigenous documentaries and did not have data on creators.

From the available data from TVO, the report showed a decline in the number of BIPOC creatives supported over the three years — from 15% in 2018 to 6% in 2020.

In 2018, TVO distributed $725,000, which was approximately 5% of the total funding for documentaries, to BIPOC-led projects. However, data for the total funding in 2019 and 2020 was unavailable. Of the total number of key creatives supported by TVO in 2018, 21 (15%) identified as BIPOC. In 2019, eight (8%) identified as BIPOC, and in 2020, six (6%) were BIPOC.

When it came to funding distribution for Indigenous documentaries, the NFB and Telefilm distributed between the two of them approximately $2.2 million (18%) in 2018 out of a funding total of $11.9 million. The funding decreased in 2019 to $1.9 million (16%) out of a funding total of $12.2 million, and was also $1.9 million (17%) in 2020 out of a funding total of $11 million.

A number of industry organizations have already committed to increasing their race-based data collection. CMF launched their Persona-ID self-identification system earlier this year, and Telefilm now asks applicants of its Production, Theatrical Documentary, Development and Talent to Watch programs to answer a self-identification questionnaire.

The report also includes an online survey to supplement the data provided by the funders, which was distributed to all DOC members and non-members. Of the survey respondents, 51% identified as a person of colour, 25% identified as Black, 16% are Caucasian or white, and 8% are Indigenous. Meanwhile, 40% identified as a cisgender woman, 36% identified as a cisgender man, and 24% identified as an “other gender”.

The majority of survey respondents were from Ontario (63%), British Columbia (18%), Quebec (7%), and Alberta (7%). A small percentage were from Nova Scotia (3%) and the Yukon (1%). There were no survey respondents from the other provinces and territories.

The survey revealed that BIPOC filmmakers appear to apply for funding at lower rates than their white counterparts. Out of the survey respondents, 88%, which identified as white or Caucasian, applied for funding for documentary production between 2017 to 2020, 67% were Black survey respondents, 47% identified as person of colour, and 20% identified as Indigenous.

The survey suggested that fewer BIPOC filmmakers apply for funding due to unique barriers that “disqualify and dissuade them from applying.” The barriers outlined in the report includes lack of time or resources, which was a common barrier for survey respondents who identified as Black (46%), Indigenous (100%), and people of colour (48%); meeting eligibility criteria, which was common for Black respondents (54%) and people of colour (48%); and lack of access to operating funding, which was identified by Black survey respondents (46%) and Indigenous (60%) survey respondents.

Other barriers that were identified in the report are: lack of cultural awareness in public funding models, which was common for respondents who identified as Black (38%), Indigenous (60%), and people of colour (35%); a lack of awareness of funding programs, which was common for Black (38%) and people of colour (43%); and difficulty navigating funding application language, which was identified by respondents who are Indigenous (80%).

“For Caucasian or white respondents, no one barrier stood out as the most common, with 20% of respondents stating they did not face any of the barriers listed in the survey,” the report states.

The DOC Institute argues that an industry-wide system of data collection, monitoring and reporting still does not exist despite the new industry initiatives created to earmark funding for BIPOC groups.

James Weyman, co-chair of the DOC Institute, said in a statement that “the report is an important step, but without accurate data we can’t shape good policy and Canada needs to do better.”

Image courtesy of unsplash.com.