Maggie Gyllenhaal Takes on Venice Film Festival’s Lack of Women in Competition: “There’s a Systemic Problem”
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Maggie Gyllenhaal, president of this year's Venice Film Festival competition jury, publicly criticised the "systemic problem" behind the low number of women directors in the main competition, expanding on remarks made at the jury's press conference. Only May el-Toukhy's "Woman Unknown" was initially selected from an original field of 20 Golden Lion contenders, with the Gaza documentary "NAZA", co-directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, later added to bring the total to two — down from six last year. Gyllenhaal argued financing is harder to secure for women and questioned whether films addressing women's experiences are consistently regarded as "high art", while also acknowledging the significance of her own appointment as jury president, given her history at the festival as director of the acclaimed "The Lost Daughter".
Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera called the imbalance a recent low point and described this year's programme as the "most political" in recent years, with conflicts including the war in Gaza, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the US-Iran war forming a backdrop to the 83rd edition. The press conference itself was briefly thrown into doubt over a "scheduling conflict" involving a jury member before organisers confirmed it would go ahead as planned. Gyllenhaal's jury includes Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Johnnie To, who will select the Golden Lion from a field including films by Danny Boyle, Robert Pattinson-starring "Primetime" and Martin McDonagh, among others.
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In short
- Gyllenhaal criticises "systemic" lack of women directors at Venice
- Only two of the main competition's films are female-directed this year
- Festival chief Barbera calls 2026 lineup its "most political" in years
How this story developed
- 2 months ago Maggie Gyllenhaal, president of this year's Venice Film Festival competition jury, has publicly criticised the "systemic problem" behind the low number of women directors featured in the main competition, expanding on remarks made at the jury's press conference.
- 2 months ago At Venice Film Festival's jury press conference, competition jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal said there is "a systemic problem" behind the fact that only two films directed by women feature in this year's main competition, out of an original 21 Golden Lion contenders.
- 2 months ago Maggie Gyllenhaal, president of this year's Venice Film Festival competition jury, publicly criticised the "systemic problem" behind the low number of women directors in the main competition, expanding on remarks made at the jury's press conference.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Systemic barriers in film financing and industry gatekeeping create real disadvantages for women directors, and these upstream inequalities are reflected in what festivals receive for consideration. The dramatic drop from six women-directed films last year to two this year warrants public acknowledgment and scrutiny of whether unconscious bias in evaluation plays a role. Festivals with Venice's platform bear responsibility for recognising these patterns and considering whether their curation processes inadvertently reinforce industry inequalities.
The case against
While industry-wide disparities in film financing disadvantage women, a festival's primary responsibility is merit-based selection from the films it receives. The year-to-year variation in submissions could reflect natural fluctuations in the pipeline rather than evidence of bias in the jury's evaluation process. Attributing the year-to-year demographic shortfall to bias in the festival's curation process without clear evidence risks misdiagnosing the issue and diverting attention from more effective solutions in industry financing and production support.
Explained simply
Maggie Gyllenhaal is a US actor and film-maker who directed the 2021 film The Lost Daughter, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. This year she is president of the festival's main competition jury, meaning she leads the panel of filmmakers judging which film wins the top prize, the Golden Lion.
The Venice Film Festival is one of the world's leading film events, held annually in Italy, and its main competition line-up is closely watched as a marker of prestige in the industry. In recent years there has been ongoing debate about how few films by women directors are selected for that competition, with critics arguing this reflects wider difficulties women face in securing funding and recognition in film-making.
This year's competition again features very few women-directed films, prompting renewed scrutiny of the selection process. The festival's artistic director, Alberto Barbera, oversees which films are chosen, while this year's jury, which Gyllenhaal chairs, will assess a range of films from well-known directors during the event.