Venice Golden Lion winner May El-Toukhy is not surprised that some pundits considered her win a surprise this evening.
“It doesn’t surprise me that some people would say ‘Oh, did she get it?’ Because that’s part of everyday life as a woman in this industry,” she responded to a question about her win being called a surprise by some in the media.
El-Toukhy, the Danish director of the night’s big winner Woman Unknown, says she is used to being counted out, and that before the lineup was confirmed, she was very low on Venice prediction lists.
“I was far down on predictions,” she said. “There were like 40 films predicted, and I was 39 or 40 every time. By now I’m pretty used to that. That’s a systemic issue. When I look to those lists, we would be four women, and I would feel that I had to compete with those four women and not my male peers, and that’s a systemic issue, and that’s something that all of us need to think about, including journalists, the media, my male peers. How can we make it easier for women to be part of this industry? I don’t have the feeling that my male colleagues aren’t interested in having women in the industry, but still, there are structures in place that we haven’t found a way to solve.”
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Venice jury head Maggie Gyllenhaal described the winning film, about sexual shame and political paranoia in postwar Denmark, as “a brilliantly made movie that felt like a laser beam”.
Danish actress Mathilde Arcel scored the festival’s Best Actress prize for her turn in the drama-thriller as a woman with secrets to hide who desperately tries to avoid mob justice.
It’s rare at the Venice festival for the same film to win the top prize and an acting award, but Gyllenhaal explained that it’s possible when the jury votes unanimously for the Golden Lion winner’s lead actor or actress to get the acting prize, which happened in this case.
Elsewhere this evening, the filmmakers behind Special Jury Prize winner Naza, the hard-hitting film about the IDF’s killing of Gazans, said they hope the film will reach an audience in Israel, before also touching on the IDF’s (Israeli Defence Force) comments criticizing the film.
Director Yuval Abraham commented: “It’s definitely important to show it [the film] to Israelis in as wide a way as possible. I hope we will be able to. It’s important as Israelis that we recognize what our government has done in Gaza…In terms of the IDF comments, our reporting in the film is rigorous. It’s being done in partnership with the Guardian…To me, it seems like an attempt to not face reality. In just these 10 days of the festival, Israel, our country, has killed multiple Palestinian children in Gaza. This is the reality described by Palestinian journalists from the very start. And I think it’s important we we talk about it.”
Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio won the Orizzonti sidebar prize best actor for his performance in The House of the Monkey. The actor was asked by Deadline about his previous collaboration with the revered UK producer Jeremy Thomas who passed away last night.
A visibly emotional Scamarcio said of Thomas: “He was a pirate. He was a free man, a great man of cinema. He made movies that are part of the history of cinema, and he behaved like an independent producer, like the father of the movie he produces, protecting directors and creators. But he did so protecting the freedom of the artists to express themselves. When I heard the news this morning, I was glad to come to Venice to get my award, but I cried for Jeremy.”
Iranian actress Laleh Marzban won best actress in the Orizzonti section for the film Falling House. The performance was commended by Deadline’s journalist at the press conference Melanie Goodfellow who asked the actress how she thought the film would be received in her homeland due to “its brave challenge to the government” and a patriarchal system.
“This question is very important for me as an actress, and as all other women in Iran, whether they be doctors, artists, whatever profession women can perform, we can only make one step at the time, one step towards our objective. If we give our small contribution, maybe we will reach our objective. I have made my small part. I have given my contribution. I really hope many other people can make small steps towards our common objective.”
You can see the full list of winners here.
