Speaking at the Venice Film Festival's opening jury press conference, jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal argued that cinema is "fundamentally, unavoidably political" and cannot be separated from real-world events such as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine or unrest in the United States. She also directly challenged the near-total absence of women directors from this year's competition lineup, sardonically remarking "I guess it's finally become clear that men make better movies than women do" before stating more seriously that a "systemic problem" makes it harder for women to secure financing for their films.

Only one competition film for the Golden Lion, "Woman Unknown" by May El-Toukhy, is solely directed by a woman, though festival artistic director Alberto Barbera noted a documentary co-directed by Rachel Szor was added shortly before the festival began. Gyllenhaal leads a seven-strong jury including Kaouther Ben Hania, Johnnie To and Xavier Giannoli. Her comments follow uncertainty over whether the jury press conference would even take place, amid wider political tensions across the festival circuit, including backlash at Berlin earlier this year and an open letter from the Venice4Palestine collective urging concrete action and the flying of the Palestinian flag.