Cate Blanchett on Camerimage Film Festival’s sexism controversy: “The work is never done”
Cate Blanchett has commented on the sexism allegations lobbied against the Camerimage Film Festival – see what she had to say below.
Last week (November 12), the Camerimage Film Festival found itself in controversy after its director Marek Żydowicz penned about female filmmakers that led to claims of misogyny.
Per Variety, Żydowicz appeared to suggest that more female cinematographers and directors being showcased in film festival programming could lead to the inclusion of “mediocre film productions” at the expense of “works and artists with outstanding artistic achievements.”
He wrote: “Should we reject what is esteemed and valuable just to ‘make space’ for the necessity of social change? Whilst festivals like Cannes, Berlin or Venice are criticized for their selections due to succumbing to or promoting [political or ideological trends], Camerimage remains committed to artistic values as the foremost criterion for qualifying and promoting film art.”
Blanchett – who will serve as the festival’s competition jury president for 2024 – has since confirmed that she will still attend the event and fulfil her duties, but in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter expanded on the controversy.
Now, she’s said to THR: “As Anna Higgs, who is also on the jury with me, put it: ‘The work is never done.’ Festivals are an opportunity to unpack that stuff and to have meaningful conversations. Festivals provide a chance to do this in a public-facing way but also privately because they bring us together as an industry. These challenges concern all of us — not just our female DPs, but their trans, non-binary and male counterparts. So, I think there’s a real opportunity to have meaningful dialog this week, and I’m excited by that.”
Żydowicz has since claimed that his column was misunderstood: “We have always strived to showcase only the best of contemporary cinema, regardless of who creates it. And that is how my statement should be understood, there is nothing more to it, it has nothing to do with lack of respect for women.”
Earlier this week (November 18), The Substance director Coralie Fargeat withdrew the film from the festival due to Żydowicz’s comments, saying the film’s themes are “about the impact of exactly these types of behaviours on our world. We shouldn’t tolerate them anymore.”
In a glowing five-star review of The Substance, Nick Levine wrote for NME: “Filled with visual nods to iconic movies including Carrie and Showgirls, The Substance is that rare thing: a future cult classic that also packs a real punch now. It’s horrifying in the moment and gnawingly haunting when you process it fully: a sickening satire of society’s obsession with youth and beauty.”
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Surej Singh
NME
