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🇵🇱 Poland /Culture & Society

Venice Film Festival Opens With Debate Over Politics and Women Directors

From Rzeczpospolita · () Polish

Translated from Polish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • The Venice Film Festival opened with discussion of politics in cinema and the limited number of films directed by women in the competition.
  • Jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal said cinema is inevitably political and argued that women face systemic difficulties raising money for films.
  • Festival director Alberto Barbera said women directed 25% of the 4,550 films submitted for the main competition, while only two of the 21 selected films bear women’s directing credits.

The Venice Film Festival tried to avoid a political opening, but politics arrived almost immediately. The festival press office cancelled the jury’s traditional news conference, citing a “schedule conflict,” a move widely understood on the Lido as an attempt by director Alberto Barbera to prevent an early confrontation.

take action for Palestine

· Annie Ernaux, Roger Waters and filmmakers including Matteo Garrone and Isabel CoixetThe signatories used the phrase in a letter to Biennale leaders before the festival.

The concern followed political disputes at other major festivals. At Venice the previous year, jury president Alexander Payne declined questions about the war in Gaza. Berlin saw a clash between juror Werner Herzog and journalists, while political arguments nearly cost festival director Tricia Tuttle her job. Cannes also faced political pressure in May.

inevitably political

· Maggie GyllenhaalShe described cinema’s relationship with politics during the jury discussion.

Before this year’s festival began, Nobel-winning French writer Annie Ernaux, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and directors including Matteo Garrone and Isabel Coixet signed a letter urging the Biennale’s leaders to “take action for Palestine.” Barbera ultimately allowed the discussion to proceed. Jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal sat at the table, while the other jurors joined journalists in the room. Asked about politics on screen, Gyllenhaal said cinema is “inevitably political” and that films encourage empathy and help audiences understand tragedies unfolding around them.

It turns out that we are weak artists

· Maggie GyllenhaalShe made the remark while discussing the small number of women-directed films in competition.

Barbera also noted that the documentary “NAZA,” about genocide in the Gaza Strip, had been added to the competition shortly before the festival opened. Another recurring issue was the small number of films directed by women. Of the 21 titles competing for the Golden Lion, only two were directed by women, and one was co-directed with a partner. Gyllenhaal joked, “It turns out that we are weak artists,” before adding, “It is primarily a systemic problem. It is much harder for women to raise money for a film.” Barbera said women directed a quarter of the 4,550 submissions received from around the world. Gyllenhaal also identified artificial intelligence as a problem the film industry would have to confront.

It is primarily a systemic problem. It is much harder for women to raise money for a film.

· Maggie GyllenhaalShe followed her joke with a serious explanation of the barriers facing women directors.
About this summary

Originally published by Rzeczpospolita in Polish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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