- Title: Venice Film Festival director, jury head disagree on gender quotas
- Date: 28th August 2019
- Summary: VENICE, ITALY (AUGUST 28, 2019) (REUTERS) VENICE 2019 COMPETITION JURY PRESIDENT, ARGENTINEAN DIRECTOR, LUCRECIA MARTEL, ARRIVING ON FOOT FOR OPENING NEWS CONFERENCE VENICE FILM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR ALBERTO BARBERA ARRIVING ON FOOT AND SAYING (Italian) "Good morning" JURY MEMBER, ITALIAN DIRECTOR PAOLO VIRZI, SAYING HELLO AS HE ARRIVES VARIOUS OF JURY MEMBERS, JAPANESE FILMMAKER SHINYA TSUKAMOTO (IN ALL BLACK OUTFIT), BRITISH ACTRESS STACY MARTIN (IN BLACK LEATHER DRESS), U.S. FILMMAKER MARY HARRON (IN WHITE TROUSER SUIT), CANADIAN FILM CRITIC AND FORMER TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR PIERS HANDLING (WEARING SUIT JACKET AND SUNGLASSES) AND MEXICAN FILMMAKER RODRIGO PRIETO (IN WHITE SHIRT WITH PICKETS), ARRIVING MARTEL ARRIVING AT PODIUM FOR NEWS CONFERENCE NEWS CONFERENCE BEGINNING JOURNALISTS SEATED FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENICE 2019 COMPETITION JURY PRESIDENT, ARGENTINEAN DIRECTOR, LUCRECIA MARTEL, SAYING: "Look, I don't think any woman finds the idea of quotas satisfactory but I don't see any other solutions in this period of transition from one type of a society to another that offers a better inclusion of women or that includes the place that women occupy in the society. I don't see a more pertinent way for the time being than that of quotas. If you ask me if that makes me happy, introducing quotas, no. But I don't see any other way for starting to force this industry into thinking in a different way and considering the films directed by women in another way." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) VENICE FILM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR, ALBERTO BARBERA, SAYING: "Introducing quotas in order to ensure a certain number of places for women directors would be offensive because it would mean that the only criteria that needs to apply in the selection process, which is that of the quality of each single film, would matter less. All the other criteria, be it political, social or anthropological or ethnological factors, in my opinion are unacceptable in the selection process, otherwise we would need to start reserving quotas for all the minority groups." JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENICE 2019 COMPETITION JURY PRESIDENT, ARGENTINEAN DIRECTOR, LUCRECIA MARTEL, SAYING: "This is the 76th year of the festival and if for two years we carried out an experiment, Mr. Barbera willing, of introducing a 50-50 rule to see what happens, whether it is true that the quality drops or whether it generates a change in the industry. What we are facing is so new, this transition is so profound, that it does not seem so bad to me that after 76 years we carry out an experiment for a couple of years. That's it, nothing else." (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) VENICE FILM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR, ALBERTO BARBERA, SAYING: "My answer to that, my immediate reaction to Lucrecia is that if I had found 50 percent of films directed by women to include in Competition, I would have done it, without any need to introduce quotas. I really tried. I mean, we received 1850 feature film submissions for selection. Around 23 percent of these were directed by women." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENICE 2019 COMPETITION JURY PRESIDENT, ARGENTINEAN DIRECTOR, LUCRECIA MARTEL, SAYING: "I can't place myself above all the judicial issues that still revolve around him but I can show solidarity to the victim, for whom, in her own words, the case is closed. I have to say that it will not be easy for me and therefore it is possible, I'm not certain yet, that I will not attend the gala for Mr. Polanski's film because I represent many women who are fighting in Argentina in similar cases, and I would not like to have to stand up and applaud him. But I think it's right for Mr. Polanski's film is screening at this festival. Because it is a dialogue that we need. And what better place than this to embark on that journey." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENICE 2019 COMPETITION JURY PRESIDENT, ARGENTINEAN DIRECTOR, LUCRECIA MARTEL, SAYING: "If a person who has served a sentence, which is perhaps what is the issue here, but the victim feels compensated, what are we going to do? Judge him? Deny him from being in the festival? Place him out of Competition in order to protect the festival? All these conversations are relevant and they are conversations of our times. Throwing Polanski out of this festival or including him are acts that force us to talk about this issue, which is something that all of us are experiencing in our countries and it is not that simple to resolve. How far are we going to go to exclude a person from society who has already passed through a legal process?" LOGO FOR 76THE VENICE FILM FESTIVAL / FANS GATHERING BY RED CARPET LUNCH BOX / FANS GATHERING BY RED CARPET VARIOUS OF RED CARPET BEING CLEANED VARIOUS OF POSTER FOR "THE PERFECT CANDIDATE" OPENING CEREMONY HOSTESS, ITALIAN ACTRESS ALESSANDRA MASTRONARDI, WALKING WITH BOYFRIEND, SCOTTISH ACTOR ROSS MCCALL
- Embargoed: 11th September 2019 17:02
- Keywords: Venice Film Festival opening press conference jury Alberto Barbera festival director female director quotas Lucrecia Martel Roman Polanski
- Location: VENICE, ITALY
- City: VENICE, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA001AU4U0Y5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: "Offensive" or the best available option? The festival director and jury head disagreed on Wednesday (August 28) on whether gender quotas would help redress an imbalance of women directors featured at the Venice Film Festival.
Only two women out of 21 filmmakers are in the running for the top Golden Lion prize at this year's festival, up from one last year, and the matter has clouded the run-up to the Aug. 28 - Sept. 7 event.
Festival director Alberto Barbera has dismissed the idea of quotas, and on Wednesday he said such a move would be "offensive".
Argentine director and festival jury head Lucrecia Martel said she did not necessarily like quotas but did not see "a more pertinent way for the time being".
"If you ask me if that makes me happy, introducing quotas, no. But I don't see any other way for starting to force this industry into thinking differently and consider films directed by women in another way," she said.
Martel then asked Barbera about temporarily introducing a 50-50 rule as an experiment.
"If I had found 50% of films directed by women to include in competition, I would have done it, without the need to introduce quotas," Barbera responded, adding that out of 1,850 feature films submitted for selection, around 23% were directed by women.
He said nearly half the films featured in the short film programme were directed by women.
Organisers of the festival have also faced criticism over the inclusion of Roman Polanski's "An Officer and a Spy" drama in the competition line-up.
Polanski pleaded guilty in 1977 to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles. The French-Polish director, 86, fled the United States for fear his deal with prosecutors would be overruled and he would get a lengthy prison term. He now lives in Europe.
Last year, he was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for violating a conduct code it adopted following hundreds of accusations of sexual harassment or assault against figures in the entertainment industry.
Barbera has said it is the film and not the person being judged at the festival.
Asked about judging Polanski's film, Martel said: "It will not be easy for me."
"It is possible, I'm not certain yet, that I will not attend the gala for Mr. Polanski's film because I represent many women who are fighting in Argentina in similar cases," she said
"I would not like to have to stand up and applaud him. But I think it's right for Mr. Polanski's film to screen at this festival because it is a dialogue that we need."
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