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Six Italian movie bodies person deed retired astatine nan deficiency of women successful nan Venice Film Festival’s main movie title this twelvemonth successful an unfastened letter.
The tribune, published successful Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper complete nan weekend, follows successful nan aftermath of nan festival’s unveiling of a 2026 Official Selection successful which conscionable 1 movie by a female head – May-el Toukhy’s Woman Unknown – made it into nan 21-title main Competition.
The missive signed by 100autori, Anac, Air3, Doc/it, arsenic good arsenic nan Italian branches of nan European Women’s Audiovisual Network (Ewa) and Women successful Film Television & Media, focused connected nan Italian selected titles.
It noted that Italy was represented successful nan prestigious Competition and Out of Competition sidebars by 7 antheral board but that nary of their countrywomen had made nan cut.
“It is simply a one-dimensional, antheral dominated selection,” publication nan letter.
It added that Alina Marazzi’s The Girl pinch nan Leica, astir real-life German-Jewish warfare photographer Gerda Taro, and Anna Foglietta’s empty-nester mates play Un Storia, which will some premiere successful nan Orizzonti sidebar, offered dream of a much balanced reflection of “humanity”.
“We clasp them adjacent pinch a activity of love, alongside nan different female board scattered passim nan festival, and alongside nan hundreds of young women crossed each subject successful movie schools, women who often outshine their antheral peers successful position of numbers, talent, energy, urgency, and power,” publication nan letter. “None of nan action committees astatine these schools, however, shape all-female classes; instead, and rightly so, they activity a measurement of quality balance.”
It’s not nan first clip that nan Venice Film Festival has been successful basking h2o complete nan deficiency of women successful competition.
There was outcry successful 2018 aft conscionable 1 female landed a spot successful competition, prompting that year’s assemblage president Guillermo del Toro to called connected nan show to purpose for a 50-50 gender divided by 2020 successful nan main competition. The show besides signed “50/50 by 2020” show promise that aforesaid year, committing to much transparency and gender equality successful nan action process.
In caller editions, Venice appeared to beryllium moving successful that direction. There were Golden Lions for Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland (2020), Audrey Diwan’s Happening (2021) and Laura Poitras’ All nan Beauty and nan Bloodshed (2022), while 2025 saw six high-profile female-directed pictures successful title led by Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab and Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee.
Barbera told Deadline successful an question and reply successful nan aftermath of Thursday’s announcement that he and his action squad had scouted difficult for female-directed films, but that some nan numbers and value had decreased.
“The percent of fabrication films submitted by women this twelvemonth was 24% against 30% past year. It’s a countertrend compared to caller years successful which nan number of female-directed films grew,” he said.
“This twelvemonth it’s decreased. I don’t cognize why. It’s inexplicable because nan pursuit of gender equality seemed for illustration an unstoppable trend. Instead, nan number of films has decreased, and unfortunately, nan value of nan films has besides decreased. Probably, nan budgets disposable for films person decreased
The unfastened missive addressed nan thorny mobility of nan subjectivity of judgements of quality.
“Quality is not immoderate divine, neutral, aliases nonsubjective class hovering supra history; we cognize afloat good that it is simply a conception that shifts and evolves. Art is simply a battlefield of bodies, tears, blood, and power—not immoderate axenic empyrean realm wherever nan angels of value flutter about, devoid of gender,” it read.
“Every action is nan merchandise of a circumstantial perspective, culture, and imagination, arsenic good arsenic preferences, sensibilities, limitations, errors, and a chopped editorial stance. To deliberation that value tin beryllium divided from each this is to disregard really nan taste canon is constructed and wherever creation originates,” it read.
“Precisely for this reason, nan criteria we usage to measure creation must beryllium perpetually called into question. When, twelvemonth aft year, nan consequence is specified an unbalanced representation, we cannot simply reason that female board “aren’t bully enough.” We must inquire ourselves whether nan devices we usage to position cinema are still suited to nan coming day.”
The signatories appealed to nan show to double down connected its 2018 promise to execute parity by 2020, moreover if this deadline has agelong since expired.
“Eight years person passed since that signing—six since nan target day we group for ourselves—a clip erstwhile we acknowledged that taste alteration does not hap spontaneously but requires consciousness and responsibility. It is to this consciousness and work that we now appeal… For this male-dominated world is simply a frightening place, and this festival, which views nan realities of that world done an almost exclusively antheral lens, is, successful its ain way, frightening too.”
