# Venice Jury President Maggie Gyllenhaal Says Films Are ‘Fundamentally, Unavoidably Political’ and Questions Lack of Female Directors in Competition: ‘There’s a Systemic Problem’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/venice-jury-president-maggie-gyllenhaal-says-films-are-fundamentally-unavoidably-political-and-questions-lack-of-female-directors-in-competition-theres-a-systemic/
- Published: 2026-09-02T14:37:32+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-02T20:43:15+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/maggie-gyllenhaal-films-political-venice-film-festival-1236848746/
- Topics: Americas, Entertainment, Europe, Film, Government, Middle East, Politics, World

## Key points

- Gyllenhaal called film "unavoidably political" at Venice's jury presser.
- She said a "systemic problem" limits financing for women directors.
- Row followed Venice nearly axing the press conference over "scheduling issues".

## Summary

Maggie Gyllenhaal, president of the jury at the Venice Film Festival, used the event's opening press conference to argue that cinema is "fundamentally, unavoidably political" and to challenge festival organisers over the scarcity of female directors in this year's competition, telling them "there's a systemic problem" in getting women's films financed. The remarks came after Venice briefly considered scrapping the traditional jury press conference, citing "scheduling issues" — a move critics saw as an attempt to shield jury members from being questioned on politics — before reinstating it following backlash.

Only one film in the Golden Lion race, May El-Toukhy's "Woman Unknown", was solely directed by a woman, prompting Gyllenhaal to sarcastically remark that "men make better movies than women do" before artistic director Alberto Barbera noted a co-directed documentary had been added late to the lineup. Gyllenhaal, who leads a seven-person jury including Kaouther Ben Hania, Johnnie To and Xavier Giannoli, made her comments amid a wider politically charged festival season; at Berlin earlier this year, jury president Wim Wenders was heavily criticised for saying filmmakers should "stay out of politics" on Israel and Palestine, while Venice itself opened under pressure from an open letter, signed by figures including Annie Ernaux and Roger Waters, urging the festival to take concrete action in support of Palestine.

## Coverage

- [Variety: Venice Jury President Maggie Gyllenhaal Says Films Are ‘Fundamentally, Unavoidably Political’ and Questions Lack of Female Directors in Competition: ‘There’s a Systemic Problem’](https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/maggie-gyllenhaal-films-political-venice-film-festival-1236848746/)
- [Far Out: Venice 2026: Maggie Gyllenhaal says films are “unavoidably political” amid backdrop of festival](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/venice-2026-maggie-gyllenhaal-says-films-are-unavoidably-political/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.