Danish director May el-Toukhy won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival with “Kvinde, ukendt,” and jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal rejected the suggestion that the prize was a political statement.
DR reports that the win, announced at the closing ceremony on September 12, has revived debate about gender balance in the film industry. At the final press conference, a journalist asked Gyllenhaal whether giving the main prize to the Danish film was a political statement, as reported by Variety.
Gyllenhaal answered sarcastically that she had not seen the film and simply noted it was made by a woman. She then said the decision was taken by the full jury on the same basis as every other title, according to DR.
She added that she was tired of discussing the same subject again and again, but would keep doing so. For a moment, she said, she wanted to celebrate a sharp and well made film.
Only one of the 21 films in the main competition was directed by a woman alone, DR notes. Reuters reported the same figure and said the award came amid criticism of the male dominated lineup.
The official awards list from the Venice Biennale names Gyllenhaal as jury president and confirms the Golden Lion for “Kvinde ukendt.” Gyllenhaal had already raised concerns about systemic barriers for women directors earlier in the festival, per Reuters. She opened her chairmanship by pointing to a systematic problem in getting films by women financed.
El-Toukhy on the critics’ lists
Accepting the statuette, el-Toukhy thanked Gyllenhaal for using her voice on the lack of equal opportunities for women filmmakers. Later, at a press conference with all the winners, a journalist from Deadline asked her about critics who said they were surprised by the result.
El-Toukhy said she had not read that criticism. In the weeks before Venice confirmed her selection, she said, the film sat around number 39 or 40 on the lists.
Looking at those lists, she said, there were four women, and she felt she would be competing with them rather than with her male colleagues. She called that a structural problem, DR reports. El-Toukhy also directed “Dronningen” and “Lang historie kort.”
The Golden Lion has gone to a director from Denmark for only the second time in the prize’s 83 year history. Carl Th. Dreyer won it in 1955 for “Ordet.” AP adds that this was the eighth time a woman had taken the festival’s top prize.
Lead actress Mathilde Arcel won the award for best actress for the same film, as reported by Reuters. DR notes that it is unusual for one film to win both the Golden Lion and another prize, which requires a unanimous jury decision.
