Woman? Unknown: May el-Toukhy is Venice’s only female director
Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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Context piece
- May el-Toukhy’s “Woman Unknown” follows Marie, a former nanny who becomes the new wife of a wealthy household’s owner in postwar Copenhagen.
- The film portrays her social rise as difficult, while the Venice competition also includes an American film starring Robert Pattinson as an unhinged television host.
- After the festival’s opening films set a high bar, the article says the competition had not risen much higher several days and about a dozen films later.
Marie was once a nanny. Now she is the new wife of the household’s owner, a dramatic step up the social ladder in postwar Copenhagen. But in May el-Toukhy’s “Woman Unknown,” that ascent comes with obstacles.
El-Toukhy is the only female director in the Venice competition. The film is set alongside an American “wonder child” production featuring Robert Pattinson as a deranged television host.
The festival opened with Danny Boyle’s “Ink,” Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard” and John Malkovich’s “CIA-Mephisto” in “Wild Horse Nine,” setting a high standard for the year’s competition. But after several days and roughly a dozen more films, at a pace of about three a day, the article concludes that the bar has not been raised much higher.
About this summary
Originally published by Der Standard in German. 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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