The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has adopted the F-rating, a classification system designed to champion women in film.
The new rating was created three years ago by Holly Tarquini, executive director of the Bath Film Festival, to “support women in film and change the stories we see on screen.” The Bath festival created a website for the rating, which says:
“The F-Rating is a classification for any film which
- is directed by a woman
- is written by a woman
- features significant women on screen in their own right.”
Tarquini says that the rating was inspired by the Bechdel test, a system devised by cartoonist Alison Bechdel to identify works of fiction that feature at least two women talking about topics other than a man.
Ellen Telje’s “A” rating did something similar in Swedish cinemas in 2013, but Tarquini broadened the scope for her F-rating to include women’s contributions not just on-camera, but behind the camera. At the 2014 Bath Film Festival, where the rating was first introduced, 17 of the 42 films received the F-rating. More than 40 festivals and theater chains have adopted the rating since its inception.