One of the world’s most celebrated directors has pulled out of a film festival in Poland in solidarity with female cinematographers.
Steve McQueen, who directed films including Shame, 12 Years a Slave and Widows, dropped out of the Camerimage Film Festival in Toruń, citing the “deeply offensive words” against female cinematographers made by the festival’s founder and CEO, Marek Żydowicz.
What ignited this outrage?
In August, a global union representing female cinematographers launched a petition calling on the Camerimage Film Festival to make greater strides towards equal gender representation of cinematographers at its prestigious festival, which is dedicated to the art of cinematography.
In the petition, Women in Cinematography (WiC) encouraged the festival to ensure equal gender representation of panelists, judges and filmmakers. It also recommended a range of other initiatives, including nurturing emerging female talent with programs, publishing reports on the diversity of its selection committee and implementing policies that would promote inclusion for all genders.
In early November, Camerimage Film Festival’s CEO, Marek Żydowicz, published an opinion article in the Cinematography World magazine, arguing that working towards a gender fairer festival could “sacrifice works and artists…solely to make room for mediocre film production.”
In his article, Żydowicz wrote: “The film industry is undergoing rapid changes, affecting the cinematic image, its content, and aesthetics.”
“One of the most significant changes is the growing recognition of female cinematographers and directors. This evolution is crucial as it rectifies the obvious injustice present in societal development. However, it also raises a question: Can the pursuit of change exclude what is good? Can we sacrifice works and artists with outstanding artistic achievements solely to make room for mediocre film production?”
Backlash
The article was immediately criticised by industry bodies and professionals worldwide, including The British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) who published a letter on its website that condemned Żydowicz’s perpetuation of gender bias by his implication that increasing female representation in cinematography could compromise artistic quality.
“The BSC wishes to express its disapproval of your recent article in Cinematography World,” the association’s “Open Letter to Żydowicz” read. “We are disheartened and angered by your profoundly misogynistic comments and aggressive tone, which we view as symptomatic of a deep-rooted prejudice.”
Shortly after, several other groups threw their weight behind the BSC, including The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC), Association of Brazilian Cinematographers (ABC) and Society of Camera Operators and Women Cinematographers Network.
Żydowicz responds and apologises
On the festival website, Żydowicz wrote a statement in response to the BSC’s criticism, claiming that his initial opinion article was misinterpreted and that “If these accusations were indeed true, this festival would simply no longer exist. Respect for others has always been my priority, and it remains one for our festival as well.”
Soon, an offical letter of apology was published on the same website, where Żydowicz said, “It was never my intention to undermine the achievements of any filmmakers, whose work I deeply appreciate and respect.”
“Whether this misunderstanding stemmed from an unfortunate choice of words or inaccurate translation from Polish is irrelevant. I apologise for this misunderstanding. I assure you that we will prevent this kind of ambiguity from occurring in our communications in the future.”
“[I] created the festival to recognise excluded filmmakers, to bring attention to those undervalued and marginalised within our industry. We actively support and will continue to support women in their efforts to achieve the recognition and standing they deserve in the film world.”
“I hear and support the many voices calling for progress. Rest assured that I will continue listening and remain open to discussions initiated by the filmmaking community. I believe there is a path forward, and I am committed to engage in dialogue grounded in mutual respect.”
Women in Cinematography (WiC) respond
Members of WiC have since published a statement in response to Żydowicz’s apology in which they explain the backstory of the organisation.
“Camerimage’s historical exclusion of all but a few women is the very reason that Women in Cinematography – a collective of filmmakers from across the globe – was formed earlier this year,” the statement read.
The statement called attention to the “repeated failed attempts by several organisations to persuade Camerimage to implement broader inclusion initiatives beyond the occasional diversity panel.”
“In May this year, the festival reached out to Women Behind the Camera in the UK to help them with a one-off event to celebrate ‘The Year of Brave Women’. They resisted WBTC’s suggestion to curate a number of events across the week featuring female filmmakers and despite WBTC sending over 30 proposals to the festival in early June, they received no response or commitment.”
“Mr Żydowicz may believe that he doesn’t have a blind spot when it comes to minority representation but please take a moment to reflect on the events of the last few days. As a major player on the international stage, Mr Zydowicz’s words wield great influence and Camerimage has a responsibility to celebrate filmmakers from all walks of life and those who historically have not received the support needed to amplify their talents and achievements. Diversity and inclusion are essential to innovation and progress in any sector, and the art of cinema is no exception.”
Steve McQueen’s response
This Saturday, the festival is set to screen McQueen’s latest feature, Blitz, starring Saoirse Ronan. But its director will not attend.
In an exclusive statement to The Hollywood Reporter, the 55-year old British director wrote: “Having read Marek Zydowicz’s op-ed concerning female cinematographers, I have decided not to attend the opening night presentation of my film Blitz this weekend.”
“Although he has issued an apology, I cannot get past what I consider deeply offensive words,” the director wrote. “I have enormous respect for cinematographers of all genders including women, and believe we have to do and demand better to make room for everyone at the table.”
Calls to improve representation and diversity
In recent years, festival leaders of the Cannes, Berlin and Tokyo film festivals have made active strides to address the underrepresentation of women and LGBTQI+ professionals working in the world of film. In 2015, Cannes partner Kering launched ‘Women In Motion’, a program of talks, podcasts and awards aimed at celebrating the achievements of women across all aspects of the film industry.
Last year, a group of film workers’ unions in Europe collaborated to hold talks addressing the importance of monitoring qualitative data on female representation in the film industry. It comes as figures revealed that of the 23 films officially selected for the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, almost all (90 per cent) of the technical occupations were held by men.
In 2019, the Berlin Film Festival released an extensive study into gender representation, finding that 45 per cent of the directors represented in the films that year were women. The 48-page report analysed gender representation across cinematography, editing, production, and screenwriting in an attempt to monitor the festival’s true gender gap.
Cinematography’s gender problem
In the 94-year history of the Academy Awards, no female has won Best Cinematography. Last year, Australian cinematographer Mandy Walker became only the third woman ever in Oscars history to be nominated for Best Cinematography.
In the US, the percentage of women working as cinematographers rose just 3 per cent over the last 26 years, from 4 per cent in 1998 to 7 per cent in 2023.
In Australia, research by Screen Australia has found that cinematography had the worst female representation compared to roles in directing, editing, music composing and production designing. Analysis conducted between 2015-2018 found that just 8 per cent of movies had female cinematographers.
In the past few years, female cinematographers have established organisations to showcase their work and the work of their female and non-binary peers. These include the International Collective of Female⁺ Cinematographers (ICFC), Cinematographers XX, illuminatrix, and Women Cinematographers Network.