The organizers of the Venice Film Festival signed a pledge on Friday to work toward gender equality, hoping to mollify critics who have accused them of sidelining women filmmakers.
Venice follows other European film festivals Cannes and Locarno in pledging to get an equal number of men and women in its top management by 2020 – but it has ruled out any quota system for selecting films to compete.
Of the 21 films vying for the Golden Lion this year, only one was directed by a woman, "The Nightingale" by Australian Jennifer Kent.
Director of the Venice International Film Festival Alberto Barbera poses. /VCG Photo
The pledge does not go anywhere near what some are demanding. In an open letter to Alberto Barbera, Venice's artistic director and campaigners called for tough action to end a "rigged system which favors mainly white males."
"Alberto Barbera, will you pledge 50/50 gender equity for female directors? Will you have your team trained in Unconscious Bias?" read the letter from the European Women's Audiovisual Network and Women in Film & TV International.
The Venice Film Festival runs from August 29 to September 8.
(Cover: Festival Director Alberto Barbera and President of the Venice Biennale, Paolo Baratta attend a photocall with women working in the film, television and media industry in Italy, after signing a pledge on gender parity on August 31, 2018 during the 75th Venice Film Festival. /VCG Photo)