Woman Unknown became the only solely woman-directed Golden Lion winner.
Maggie Gyllenhaal defended the Venice jury’s unanimous decisions on awards.
NAZA received praise for its intelligence, bravery and focus on systems.
Woman Unknown won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, with jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal rejecting suggestions that the film's female director influenced the decision. May el-Toukhy's feature was the only film in competition directed solely by a woman.
Maggie Gyllenhaal defends Woman Unknown Golden Lion Win
Gyllenhaal had highlighted the lack of women filmmakers competing for Venice’s top prize during her tenure. After the awards, however, she dismissed the idea that Woman Unknown was chosen as a political statement.
"I actually didn't see Woman Unknown," she deadpanned. "I just was like, ‘It's made by a woman and so, Golden Lion’,”
She later stressed that the decision followed extensive discussion among the jury. “I will say that, of course, I anticipated that question. There are many movies that women made that I don’t like and some that I actively, strongly don’t like, just like films made by men. I have one vote just as each member of this jury does, and so all of the decisions that we make are always complicated, always involve a lot of conversation.”
Maggie Gyllenhaal on women filmmakers at Venice
Gyllenhaal also voiced frustration over repeatedly discussing representation instead of celebrating the winning film. "I think I'm tired of talking about this same subject over and over. I will continue to do it, but just for a minute, here in this incredible place, I just want to celebrate a beautifully made movie that I felt was like a laser beam just for the well-made movie that it is.”
The jury unanimously awarded Woman Unknown star Mathilde Arcel the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. Gyllenhaal said, "You're allowed to give two awards to a Golden Lion winner if the second award you want to give is unanimous.” She added, “So we unanimously allowed to award Mathilde, who I’d like to say publicly, for all the press, is going to blow our socks off.”
Gyllenhaal praises NAZA
The only other competition film involving a woman director was NAZA, co-directed by Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham. Gyllenhaal praised its "immense bravery and intelligence" and said fellow juror Kaouther Ben Hania helped her understand that "the way in which it's shot and put together is about systems."
She also compared its approach to Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest, saying, “And one of the things that I loved about the film was the way that it non-literally expressed that.”
