Kenneth Glad
The entertainment industry loves to celebrate its own progress. Yet a quick glance at one of the year’s biggest events reveals a different reality. A glaring gap proves old habits die hard.
Winning a major European film trophy guarantees massive global exposure. The Venice Film Festival holds incredible power to launch careers.
But the fight for the Golden Lion looks overwhelmingly male this year. Two women are competing against many famous male veterans.
Danish-Egyptian film-maker May el-Toukhy is calling out this gap. Her historical drama Woman Unknown earned a spot in the contest.
Speaking to the press, she pointed out how the media treats male creators, according to The Guardian.
The genius myth
“I’ve never ever read an article where a female director is promoted as a genius,” el-Toukhy noted.
“It’s not that I think I am one, but it’s just interesting that this is so systemic,” she said.
The director insisted everyone must help fix the culture. “All of us are responsible for changing that discourse.”
El-Toukhy initially stood as the only female contender, writes the British newspaper. Festival bosses later added a documentary co-directed by a woman.
Slipping backward
This lack of representation feels like a regression to the acclaimed director.
“After MeToo, all of us were really aware of this gender imbalance,” el-Toukhy explained. She warned, “Something has happened over the course of the last couple of years, but we’re kind of returning to what it used to be.”
Her own path to success was frustratingly slow. “It’s a structural problem that I have encountered throughout my own career. [It was] very, very hard to get my first film done after graduating from film school. It took me six or seven years, whereas my male peers were much faster than me.”
Other rival events feature slightly more diverse rosters. Women helmed roughly a quarter of the main entries at Cannes, The Guardian reports.
Stories of the unseen
Her current project focuses heavily on the female experience. The plot follows a Danish maid hiding her past romance with a German soldier right after the Second World War.
“My film is about the invisibility of women,” el-Toukhy said.
She described how women in conflict zones face a brutal reality. “It’s about being objectified on one hand, and on the other hand being unseen and voiceless.”
Amid the controversy, the director joked she has become the most famous unknown woman on the red carpet.
Sources: The Guardian
