There are no female directors vying for a Palme d’Or at Cannes this year.
There were three women on the nine-person jury — German actress Diane Kruger, British actress and director Andrea Arnold, and French actress Emmanuelle Devos –but of the 22 films selected for the main competition, none were directed by a woman.
Jane Campion has been the only female director to ever win a Palme d’Or at Cannes, for her 1993 film, The Piano. In 2009, which saw three female-directed films in the Cannes main competition, she spoke about the lack of female directors, both in the industry and at Cannes. In 2010, when no female directed-films were selected for the main competition (number of women on the jury: 2), British director Ruth Torjussen organized a petition and called for selection panels to consist of 50 percent women.
In 2011, with four women on the jury, four films in the main competition were directed by women.
In 2012, that number is back down to zero.
We rounded up a few filmmakers to ask them how they felt about this. Below are responses from Jordan Canning, Ingrid Veninger, Justin Simms and Darcy Fitzpatrick.
INGRID VENINGER
“Yesterday, I participated in a Women’s Filmmakers Symposium at the Sarasota Film Festival. Debra Zimmerman, Executive Director of Women Make Movies, kicked us off with the facts we know too well… Women hold positions as producers far more than they do as directors, agencies representing filmmakers are dominated by men, the most powerful film festivals are run by men… and it’s getting worse because the percentage of female directors is going down and the percentage of leading roles for women is going down.
We have to keep making good movies and lots of them, and we will always have to work ten times harder than men, because there are fewer of us at film festivals and in the marketplace. The man beside me just said, “Maybe there were just no good films by women submitted to Cannes this year!” Personally, I would like to know how many films directed by women were submitted to Cannes, in relation to how many films directed by men. Could it be 100:1? Regardless, the issue is complex and it seems to be getting worse because the percentage of female directors is going down, not up. We are a minority in the motion picture industry and whoever thinks it’s only about talent is naive.”
JUSTIN SIMMS
“I was just up at the Writer’s Guild of Canada National Forum and one of the stats that came out of there was that only 32% of the Writers Guild of Canada are female, which I thought was interesting in light of the Cannes situation.
The thing to keep in mind about the Cannes thing, and I’m not excusing it at all, is that the competition selections are highly political insofar as they are highly sought-after and, at Cannes, they really try and put famous filmmakers in there. And, quite frankly, there are just more well-known male filmmakers than female filmmakers.
A common thing that we all see is that there aren’t a lot of great acting parts for women and I think that is because there aren’t enough female writers. Writers will write what they know. So that’s why so many movies are about white guys, because most of the writers are white guys. So the key for getting better acting roles for women is getting more women writing scripts.
And I think that relates to the Cannes situation in that it’s a numbers issue. Even in a civilized and forward country like Canada, 3/4 of the screenwriters are male.
So how do you fix it? Do you put in a quota system? Would filmmakers actually want that? Is it a solvable problem? I don’t know. To a certain extent, I think it’s just the way it is, essentially. But that doesn’t mean that we should pay no attention to it. I think it calls out to us to pay more attention to women filmmakers and women screenwriters, and we’re all responsible for that.”
JORDAN CANNING
“It’s a disappointment, to say the least. Last year’s Cannes lineup had a number of incredible films by women – the utterly singular and stellar Lynne Ramsay, for example – and I find it hard to believe that there was NO work by female filmmakers submitted this year worth including in the competition?! It’s a tricky question – should Cannes have a mandate to program a certain number of films by women? Certainly, in some bizarro extreme hypothetical world when there are literally ZERO films submitted by women (or truly no good ones), then I don’t think a film should be included just because it was directed by a woman. But I do think that festivals like Cannes (and TIFF, Tribeca, Sundance, etc.) are in the unique position of being the first stop for seeing every great new film out there. They have the power to support those films, get them out to the general public, help them find audiences they wouldn’t normally reach. That’s a huge privilege – and a great responsibility – and it’s frustrating that the work of female filmmakers is so often overshadowed or, in this case, completely overlooked.”
DARCY FITZPATRICK
“When I learned that Cannes had managed to overlook women directors completely for Competition in this year’s festival, I decided to take a close look at just what kind of festival Cannes claims itself to be.
Their website is littered with bold statements of noble intent, each of which makes the total lack of female directed films In Competition this year all the more difficult to understand.
You know that thing you do after eating Chinese Food when you read out the fortune from your fortune cookie and you end it with “in bed” and it’s always hilarious? I found myself ending the statements on the Cannes website with a singular statement of my own, but it was never so much funny as confusing.
From Thierry Frémaux, Festival Director:
‘Cannes belongs to each and every one of us who, year after year, from wherever we are and in our own individual way, contributes towards creating it step by step. It is only by constantly analyzing the Festival, adapting its function and encouraging debate about it that we will continue to make it the very best it can be. Cannes must be open to new ideas, while remaining faithful to its past, of course. Diversity can only enrich it. That´s what makes the Festival de Cannes our festival.’
And yet we couldn’t find a single female directed film this year worthy of Competition.
See what I mean? It just doesn’t make any sense. Let’s try it with a few more.
Article 1 from the Official Selection Rules states: ‘The spirit of the Festival de Cannes is one of friendship and universal cooperation. Its aim is to reveal and focus attention on works of quality in order to contribute to the evolution of motion picture arts and to encourage development of the film industry throughout the world.’
And yet we couldn’t find a single female directed film this year worthy of Competition.
Weird, right? How about a couple of items from their FAQ:
‘What is the mission of the Festival de Cannes?
Ever since its creation, the Festival de Cannes has remained faithful to its founding purpose: to draw attention to and raise the profile of films with the aim of contributing towards the development of cinema, boosting the film industry worldwide and celebrating cinema at an international level.’
And yet we couldn’t find a single female directed film this year worthy of Competition.
‘What initiatives has the Festival set up to encourage film production?
The Festival is very keen to discover new talent and act as a springboard for creation. The development of “Cannes Short Film” is just one example of this. A number of initiatives aimed at supporting the talent of the future have already been introduced: the Caméra d’Or is awarded to the best film presented either in the Official Selection, during Directors´ Fortnight or during the Semaine de la Critique.
The Cinéfondation, which serves to showcase new trends in the film industry, screens films from film schools as part of the Official Selection, as well as organising [sic] the Résidence and the Atelier.’
And yet we couldn’t find a single female directed film this year worthy of Competition.
Errr…? Finally, let’s dig into the Festival Press Kit to see what kind of message Cannes is sending out to the media:
‘For what hasn’t and won’t change is the kind of filmmaker that makes Cannes, and not the ephemeral or the froth. In a world that sacrifices everything to what’s superficial, to the new-best-thing, to the lowest common denominator, to the non-debate of ideas through apathy, what counts, what makes us strong, is our passion for cinema and for those who make it: the great auteur filmmakers.
The greatness of Cannes is its ability to bring together and share that very special moment when a film is discovered. A film which, in the blink of an eye, invents, awakens, overwhelms, deifies.’
And yet we couldn’t find a single female directed film this year worthy of Competition.
Is anyone else as confused as I am?
There are 22 films being screened In Competition this year at Cannes. From all that I’ve read on how the festival views and conducts itself, there’s nothing that should preclude the inclusion of a female director in that list. And yet this year there are none.
For everything Cannes has had to say about itself, it seems they still have some explaining to do. Because if you can’t find even one female directed film from around the world to join a list of 22 that you deem worthy of Competition, your intentions might just be in need of reevaluation.”
What do you think? Post your comments below or send them to sarah@womensfilmfestival.com.