Jennifer Kent Says Lack of Female Directors at Venice Film Festival is Troubling

Oh, Italy. As beautiful as that country is, it still refuses to adhere to a lot of the “woke” mentality leaking into many Western countries, especially the United States. After all, they've basically refused to go along with some of the #MeToo movement’s finger-pointing mentality, to the point where even the Venice Film Festival decided to select Roman Polanski’s latest film (“An Officer and a Spy”) for competition this year.

Last year, there even was an Italian director strutting down the Lido red carpet with a "Harvey Weinstein is Innocent" T-shirt. Yikes. During that same edition, Jennifer Kent's "The Nightingale" was the only film directed by a woman to be part of competition. The film was deemed somewhat of a disappointment by many, but that wasn't a valid excuse for an Italian member of the press to shout “Shame on you, whore! You Suck!” when Kent’s name appeared on the screen during the final credits. Eventually, Sharif Meghdoud, the person responsible for yelling the obscenity, apologized and said, “I put my face on it and take responsibility.” 

All of this to say, Kent was chosen to be part of this year’s Venice Film Festival competition jury, which is being led by President “Zama” director Lucretia Martel. Speaking to The Wrap, Kent discussed coming back to Venice in 2019 and why she’s disappointed by the lack of female filmmakers in competition.

“I think it’s an issue,” Kent said. “I hoped there would be more. I really did.” She added, “There are some incredible women out there making films, and we need to see them, and they need to be in festivals, A-list festivals, and have the opportunity that men are having. All I can do from my perspective is keep making films, no matter how hard it is.”

The Venice Film Festival begins on August 28.