Did you know that “The Babadook” and “The Nightingale” director Jennifer Kent is no longer part of the 76th annual Venice Film Festival’s jury anymore? We are not really sure what happened, nothing has been announced, but what we do have is the official Jury list on the the festival’s official website subtly replacing Kent’s name with Canadian director Mary Harron. Now, of course, we’re all wondering the same thing, right? Did Kent resign?
If you remember, Kent had recently complained about the lack of female directors in competition at this year’s fest, “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.”
Of course, Kent's "The Nightingale" was the only film directed by a woman to be part of competition last year. The revenge-thriller was deemed somewhat of a disappointment by critics, 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-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.”
The current La Biennale di Venezia jury [Source]:
Lucrecia Martel - President (Argentina), director
Piers Handling (Canada), historian and critic
Mary Harron (Canada), director
Stacy Martin (UK), actress
Rodrigo Prieto (Mexico), director of photography
Tsukamoto Shinya (Japan), director
Paolo Virzì (Italy), director