The Venice International Film Festival has announced its 2016 slate, and female filmmakers do not feature prominently. Venice is recognized as the oldest film festival in the world, but the 73rd iteration of the fest demonstrates that they are lagging behind when it comes to gender equality in their programming. Fortunately there’s still plenty to look forward to at the fest — especially the premiere of a new film by rising star Ana Lily Amirpour.
Of 20 films in Competition, one is directed solely by a woman and one is co-directed by a woman, which means that only 10 percent of the fest’s most prominent program is female-helmed — the same paltry percentage as last year. Only two of the 20 filmmakers vying for this year’s Golden Lion are women, so the odds aren’t in favor of a woman-directed film taking home the fest’s most prestigious prize.
The woman-directed films in Competition are Amirpour’s “The Bad Batch” and “Spira Mirabilis,” co-directed by Martina Parenti. “The Bad Batch” marks Amirpour’s eagerly awaited follow-up to her acclaimed 2014 feature directorial debut “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night.” Amirpour is shifting her gaze from vampires to cannibals: “The Bad Batch” is a dystopian love story set in a cannibal community in Texas.
The Out of Competition-Fiction section includes 11 films, but only one is helmed by a woman: French writer-director Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Planetarium.” The film is set in the 1930s and stars Natalie Portman and newcomer Lily-Rose Depp (“Yoga Hosers”) as sisters and supernatural mediums.
Of seven films screening in the Out of Competition-Documentary program, one is co-directed by a woman: Benedetta Argentieri’s “Our War.” The feature centers on Westerners — an American ex-Marine, Italian communist, and Swedish bodyguard — who enroll as volunteers in Syria to fight against the self-described Islamic State.
The Horizons section is where the highest number of female filmmakers are represented. This portion of the fest is known for screening cutting-edge works. Five of 18 titles in the program are directed by women, and one is co-directed by a woman, meaning that six of the films, or 33 percent, featured a woman at the helm. Belgian director Fien Troch has two works screening in Horizons: “Die Einsiedler” and “Home.”
Alice Lowe’s “Prevenge” will open Venice Critics’ Week, and Venice Days, the fest’s independent arm modeled on Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, is focusing on “female creativity” this year.
The Venice International Film Festival runs from August 31-September 10.
Check out all of the women-directed films below. List adapted from The Guardian.
COMPETITION
“The Bad Batch” — Ana Lily Amirpour (US)
“Spira Mirabilis” — Co-Directed by Martina Parenti (Italy, Switzerland)
OUT OF COMPETITION — NARRATIVE
“Planetarium” — Rebecca Zlotowski (France, Belgium)
OUT OF COMPETITION — DOCUMENTARY
“Our War” — Co-Directed by Benedetta Argentieri (Italy, US)
HORIZONS
“Die Einsiedler” — Fien Troch (Germany, Austria)
“Home”— Fien Troch (Belgium)
“King of the Belgians “— Co-Directed by Jessica Woolworth (Belgium, Netherlands, Bulgaria)
“Liberami” — Federica Di Giacomo (Italy, France)
“Reparer les vivants”— Katell Quillevere (France, Belgium)
“Through the Wall “— Rama Burshtein (Israel)
