Cate Blanchett: 'It's a struggle being a parent and working in the film industry'

A struggle: Cate Blanchett thinks that being a working mother is a struggle
Dave Benett
Alistair Foster5 October 2016
The Weekender

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Cate Blanchett spoke of the struggle faced by parents in the movie business — as she presented a new £50,000 award to a filmmaker who said she would spend most of it on childcare.

British filmmaker Hope Dickson Leach, a mother of two, impressed judges with her low-budget entry The Levelling.

Blanchett, who joined Dickson Leach and other stars at a London gala to celebrate the award, told the Standard: “The film industry is no different from any other industry. It’s a struggle for working parents.

“Whether you’re making your second film or you’re trying to get your first feature out, there’s a time pressure.

IWC Schaffhausen Dinner in Honour of the BFI at Rosewood London

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"So anything that can afford you time, whether it’s through childcare or getting it through to the second draft, and allows you to take the time to develop things slowly [has to be welcomed].”

Dickson Leach’s film, a tragedy set against the backdrop of the 2014 Somerset floods, will be shown at the London Film Festival, opening tonight.

She said part of the challenge had been “managing a family with making a film”. “This [award] is staggering,” she said. “I’m developing a new project in Hong Kong, so this will allow me to spend a lot of time working on that and actually what the money will really go towards is childcare.”

The Edinburgh-based filmmaker is part of Raising Films, a campaign to make the industry more family-friendly. She said: “We’re trying to draw attention to the fact that being a parent is taking a lot of women out of the film industry.”

The gala to mark the inaugural IWC Schaffhausen filmmakers bursary award, in association with the BFI, was held at the Rosewood Hotel in Holborn.

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