Author: Ariston Anderson / Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Despite Venice’s lackluster response to promoting women in the competition, jury president Guillermo del Toro says everyone in the industry has a responsibility these days to make an effort.
At Wednesday’s opening press conference for the 75th edition of the Venice Film Festival, organizers were once again questioned about the lineup, which for the second year running features only one female director, namely Jennifer Kent with The Nightingale.
The Hollywood Reporter posed a question to Biennale president Paolo Baratta and jury president Guillermo del Toro if in the post #MeToo world festivals have a responsibility to work to represent women or people of color in their competition lineups, not in terms of establishing a quota, but in looking at how festivals choose their lineups.
Baratta admitted that gender inequality is a problem, but it’s a problem across all areas of art under his umbrella at the Biennale in dance, art, theater, architecture and in film, of course. He maintained that his team has been open about its statistics, receiving only approximately 21 percent of submissions from female directors, before once again discussing quotas.
The Biennale head also agreed to open up an investigation if requested into whether there has been any gender bias or other biases in the past in terms of how films have been chosen. As Venice under artistic director Alberto Barbera’s leadership has transformed the festival into one of the best in the world today in terms of the quality of its films, it has received much greater global attention in recent years. And when a film flops on the Lido, especially from an established name, critics are often vocal that a precious competition slot could have been given to a more deserving film, male or female.
“As far as the [suspicion] that the festival has a bias, we will provide any possible information that is needed to see and to check whether this is true. I am absolutely open to it, but I am also against any idea that quotas are the solution to this.
”He also spoke of Biennale College, the festival’s program to encourage young filmmakers from start to finish, where the final product is presented in the festival.
“We are very active, and we consider the Biennale an institution that has…
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