Venice Jury President Maggie Gyllenhaal Says Films Are ‘Fundamentally, Unavoidably Political’ and Questions Lack of Female Directors in Competition: ‘There’s a Systemic Problem’

It didn’t take long for politics to take the spotlight at this year’s Venice Film Festival jury press conference. Amid the wars raging in Gaza and Ukraine, as well as the unrest in the United States, jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal was asked whether cinema should be political.

“OK,” Gyllenhaal said with a laugh. “May as well get into it.”

The filmmaker of “The Bride” and “The Lost Daughter” directly addressed the question by sharing her belief that movies are “fundamentally, unavoidably political.”

“Look, we could say, how are we possibly here talking about movies right now when the world is in a state of emergency?” she said. “To me, the answer has something to do with empathy. I think that film allows an opening into an opportunity to find empathy inside of ourselves.”

She added that every subject and filmmaker should have the ability to be heard. “I think we can challenge ourselves to hear stories about the most corrupt, most perverse people because it opens up the opportunity to find empathy for those people,” she says. “I am here open. I am here curious.”

Gyllenhaal was also probed about the lack of female directors in this year’s competition lineup. Only one film up for the Golden Lion — the drama “Woman Unknown” by Danish-Egyptian director May El-Toukhysolely — was solely directed by a women.

“I guess it’s finally become clear that men make better movies than women do,” Gyllenhaal deadpanned.

Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera interjected, saying that “Naza,” a documentary co-directed by “No Other Land” filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, was added to the competition lineup shortly before the festival.

Gyllenhall returned to the question, saying, “I will answer you seriously. There’s a systemic problem. It’s harder for women to get films financed.”

She wondered aloud: “Could it be possible that women, having had a different experience of being alive in the world, want to make movies about are not always deemed high art? Who decide what’s good? Who decides what is valuable?”

Gyllenhall also noted it was significant that she was chosen to be head of the main competition jury. She’s presiding over a seven-member committee that includes Tunisian helmer Kaouther Ben Hania, Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To, Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat, French filmmaker Xavier Giannoli, British composer Daniel Blumberg and Italian film scholar Francesco Casetti. Gyllenhaal represented the jury at the conference, while her fellow members sat in the audience.

The traditional opening jury press conference took place after some uncertainty over whether Venice would hold it at all. The festival considered scrapping the event because of “scheduling issues,” which some perceived as a way to shield jury members from being quizzed about politics. After facing backlash, the festival reinstated the jury presser, explaining the programming conflicts had been solved.

The debate surrounding the press conference came amid heightened political tensions on the international festival circuit, where actors, directors and jury members have increasingly been pressed to address wars, Gaza, U.S. politics and the rise of the far right. The conversation around politics escalated at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year after jury president Wim Wenders said filmmakers should “stay out of politics” while fielding questions about Israel and Palestine. His remarks triggered fierce criticism and prompted Berlin artistic director Tricia Tuttle to publicly defend artists’ right to decide whether or not to speak on political issues.

Venice is opening against a particularly charged backdrop. An open letter issued by the Venice4Palestine collective and signed by figures including Nobel Prize-winning writer Annie Ernaux, Roger Waters, Isabel Coixet and Matteo Garrone has called on the festival to take “concrete action” in support of Palestine. The group has also asked Venice to fly the Palestinian flag throughout the festival.

The subject carries particular resonance for Ben Hania, whose Gaza drama “The Voice of Hind Rajab” premiered in competition at Venice last year and won the Silver Lion after receiving a 22-minute standing ovation.

Barbera has himself described this year’s selection as the festival’s most political in recent years, pointing to films dealing with war, Palestine, immigration, climate change, mounting social tensions and shrinking freedoms.

“We are a space for freedom of expression,” Barbera told Variety prior to the start of the festival. “Our role is to safeguard freedom of expression for everyone, for the artists, and to safeguard the confrontation between artists and the public, the critics and people in general.”