Politics and the underrepresentation of women at the world’s major film festivals became the breakout topic of conversation at this year’s Venice jury press conference, with Maggie Gyllenhaal stating that she believes “there’s a systemic problem” behind the fact that the world’s oldest cinema showcase has just two titles directed by women in its main competition this year.
“It’s much harder for women to get their films financed,” said Gyllenhaal, the festival’s competition jury president this year, when asked about the dearth of women in Venice’s selection. “Also, could it be possible that the things that women, having had a different experience of being alive in the world, want to make movies about are not always deemed high art?”
“I really am walking in with a question as to why there are so few women in the main competition,” she later added.
This year’s competition has drawn scrutiny for its stark gender imbalance. Just one of the original list of 20 Golden Lion contenders — May el-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown — is directed by a woman, down from six female-directed competition titles last year. The festival later added to the competition with the Gaza documentary NAZA, co-directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, bringing the total to two. Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera acknowledged the disparity when announcing the lineup, calling it a recent low for the festival.But Gyllenhaal also tipped her hat to Venice for selecting her as the event’s jury chief this year. “Alberto and Julia asking me to be the head of the main jury competition — after the two films in particular that I have made — is a very important thing to consider, too,” she said.
