A first: Women show up in force on Venice Film Festival roster
In a huge leap from previous years鈥� 鈥渆mbarrassing percentiles,鈥� 44% of the films showcased at the 2020 Venice Film Festival are directed by women. 鈥淚 feel very comfortable and proud to be in that environment,鈥� said one female director competing in the festival.
Writer-director Chloe Zhao poses for a portrait in Park City, Utah, Jan. 22, 2018. Her film "Nomadland" will be featured at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, which previously included female competitors in "embarrassing percentiles," said festival director Alberto Barbera.
Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP
A spot in competition at the Venice Film Festival can launch careers and Oscar winners, but in recent years, films directed by women have been mostly excluded from vying for the coveted Golden Lion. Among the 62 films that competed between 2017 and 2019, only four were made by women.
Things have improved at the just-started 77th edition of the festival, where 44% of the films in competition are directed by women.
They include Chlo茅 Zhao鈥檚 Great Recession drama 鈥淣omadland,鈥� with Frances McDormand; Mona Fastvold鈥檚 period romance 鈥淭he World to Come,鈥� with Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston; Julia von Heinz鈥檚 contemporary political film 鈥淎nd Tomorrow the Entire World鈥�; and Susanna Nicchiarelli鈥檚 鈥淢iss Marx,鈥� about Karl鈥檚 youngest daughter.
Festival director Alberto Barbera noted past 鈥渆mbarrassing percentiles鈥� and said that the films this year were selected 鈥渆xclusively on the basis of their quality and not as a result of gender protocols.
鈥淭his is an unprecedented percentile which we hope augurs well for a future cinema that is free of any sort of prejudice and discrimination,鈥� he said.
The films this year are timely and global. German filmmaker Ms. von Heinz started to develop her script for 鈥淎nd Tomorrow the Entire World鈥� 20 years ago, but her story about neo-Nazis and anti-fascists in contemporary Germany has only become more relevant.
鈥淭he right-wing movement in Germany became stronger and stronger like everywhere in the Western world,鈥� she said. 鈥�2020 seems to be the perfect year for this film to give birth.鈥�
She applied to Venice specifically because of another female-directed film, Margarethe von Trotta鈥檚 鈥淢arianne and Julianne,鈥� from 1981, which had a massive influence on her. The film, based on the true stories of sisters 海角大神e and Gudrun Ensslin, a founder of the Red Faction Army, won the festival鈥檚 top award that year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sometimes very hard to make a political film which keeps its meaning over the years and is not just for the time it鈥檚 made,鈥� she said. 鈥淰enice has this tradition to show these kinds of films so we applied. And I was very happy that [Barbera] even compared our films at the press conference.鈥�
Applying was a no-brainer for Norwegian director Fastvold, who had a long history with the Venice Film Festival with 鈥淰ox Lux鈥� and 鈥淐hildhood of a Leader,鈥� films she co-wrote with her partner Brady Corbet. But this is her first time being invited to be part of the competition with one she directed.
Based on a Jim Shepard story, Ms. Fastvold鈥檚 鈥淭he World to Come鈥� is about two women, married to farmers, who fall in love in the 1850s New York.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about this very intense intellectual and emotional and physical connection between two women [played by Ms. Kirby and Ms. Waterston],鈥� Ms. Fastvold said. 鈥淧eople would ask me, why do you want to tell the story about normal women falling in love with one another. And I said, well, I do think that there should be a place in history for the quiet ones as well. Not just the great icons. Not just the Napoleons.鈥�
Four women have won the Golden Lion in the festival鈥檚 history: Sofia Coppola, for 鈥淪omewhere鈥� in 2010, Mira Nair, for 鈥淢onsoon Wedding鈥� in 2001, Agnes Varda for 鈥淰agabond鈥� in 1985 and Ms. von Trotta in 1981.
Ms. Von Heinz is particularly happy to be in the company of so many women this year. She worried a little about their track record, but is heartened by the numbers, the Cate Blanchett-led jury and Tilda Swinton鈥檚 lifetime achievement honor.
鈥淚 feel very comfortable and proud to be in that environment,鈥� Ms. von Heinz said.
Ms. Fastvold said that it鈥檚 always an honor to be part of Venice but that this year feels particularly special.
鈥淭here are some really, very smart programmers in Venice who work very hard and see so many films and this year has been a very challenging year, but I think they鈥檝e done a very great job,鈥� Ms. Fastvold said. 鈥淵ou have to seek out the smaller films. That鈥檚 the key, right?鈥�
Other female-directed films in the main competition are Nicole Garcia鈥檚 French thriller 鈥淟overs,鈥� with Stacy Martin, Italian filmmaker Emma Dante鈥檚 鈥淭he Macaluso Sisters,鈥� Malgorzata Szumowska鈥檚 Polish drama 鈥淣ever Gonna Snow Again,鈥� and Jasmila Zbanic鈥檚 鈥淨uo Vadis, Aida?鈥� from Bosnia.
The importance of the platform of a major festival like Venice cannot be understated, according to Women and Hollywood founder and publisher Melissa Silverstein.
鈥淚t鈥檚 become clearer as time has moved on that festivals have an even more important role to play in the industry as curators of our culture,鈥� Ms. Silverstein said. 鈥淚t signals to buyers and agents and producers that this is a person who has made something that is worthy of global attention.鈥�
But, she鈥檚 also waiting to make sure this will be a consistent activity.
鈥淭o do great once, that鈥檚 fine, but that鈥檚 just a fluke,鈥� she added. 鈥淚t needs to be a trend.鈥�
This story was reported by The Associated Press.