Benny Box – Juliet Riddell | The Long Walk Towards Gender Equality in Politics

For 2,500 years, women have fought—often invisibly—to carve space in democracies built without them. Teaming up with the The Financial Times, a bold new animated short film, The Long Walk Towards Gender Equality in Politics, confronts this glaring gap head-on. Amid today’s political fractures and eroding trust in leadership, the project crackles with relevance, tracing women’s grueling climb from ancient exclusion to modern-day power struggles.Whimsical yet weighty, the film sweeps viewers through hand-painted worlds where suffragettes march, pioneers triumph, and unsung heroines blaze trails. Each meticulously crafted scene—textured skies, delicate paper-cut cities—melds warmth with urgency, turning history’s whispers into a rallying cry. Democracy’s story isn’t over. And this? It’s the sequel we’re still writing.

Produced by The Financial Times
Director: Juliet Riddell
Producer: Eóin Hegan
Animation Studio: Benny Box
Text By Nina Segal & Henry Mance
Musical Performance: Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi
Chief Data Reporter: John Burn-Murdoch
Sound Designer: Tristan Cassel-Delavois
Production Manager: Nasim Asadi
Graphics Journalist: Dan Clark
Creative Director: Esben Fisker
Client Lead: Caroline Madsen
Character Design & Storyboard: Sigurd Grelck
Background Design: Esben Fisker & Hannah Genzmer
Animation & Compositing: Sigurd Grelck, Esben Fisker & Hannah Genzmer
Design & Animation Intern: Maikie Andersen