Maggie Gyllenhaal cites systemic barriers as two women compete for Golden Lion at Venice

Scarcity of women in competition

The 83rd Venice International Film Festival opened on Wednesday with renewed attention on the gender balance of its main competition lineup. Only two of the 21 films competing for the Golden Lion this year are directed or co-directed by women, representing a decline from six female-directed entries in 2025. The initial selection announced in July featured only one title from a female filmmaker, Danish-Egyptian director May el-Toukhy's "Woman Unknown". Festival organizers later expanded the lineup with "NAZA", a documentary about Gaza co-directed by Oscar-winning Israeli filmmaker Rachel Szor alongside Yuval Abraham.

Gyllenhaal addresses structural hurdles

During the opening press conference at the Palazzo del Casino, competition jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal directly addressed the low proportion of female filmmakers in the official selection. The American actor and director, who previously won a screenplay award at Venice in 2021 for "The Lost Daughter", argued that women encounter entrenched structural inequities when trying to produce and distribute their work. She pointed to persistent funding disparities and questioned subjective artistic standards across the international film industry.

I think it's much more difficult for women than men to get funding for their films. Furthermore, it's possible that the themes women tackle, having had a different life experience, aren't always considered high-level art.

Gyllenhaal added that evaluating cinema made by women requires moving past rigid expectations, noting that female directors have only recently gained broader access to filmmaking tools and often tell stories differently from male counterparts.

Festival leadership and selection criteria

Sitting beside Gyllenhaal, Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera defended the selection process against criticism from industry and advocacy organizations. Barbera reported that submissions directed by women accounted for 24% of all entries received for this edition, down from 30% in 2025. He stated that the festival selection committee operates without bias regarding form or content and relies solely on artistic quality and complexity. Italian advocacy groups had previously published an open letter challenging Barbera's remarks in July that female submissions lacked the quality needed for the main competition.

Political discourse and jury responsibilities

The press conference took place after festival organizers reversed an earlier decision to cancel the traditional jury media event. Officials had originally cited a scheduling conflict, following tensions at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where jury head Wim Wenders faced criticism after advising filmmakers to avoid political commentary. The Venice jury, which also includes directors Kaouther Ben Hania, Shahrbanoo Sadat, Xavier Giannoli, and Johnnie To, composer Daniel Blumberg, and film scholar Francesco Casetti, evaluated a program featuring works on conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine as well as portraits of figures like Rupert Murdoch and Elon Musk. Gyllenhaal concluded that cinema remains political through its capacity to foster human empathy during periods of global crisis.