The Camerimage Film Festival is in a lot of trouble now that director Coralie Fargeat pulled her movie “The Substance” because of what she called “highly misogynistic” comments made by festival CEO Marek Żydowicz about the role of women in movies.
The argument started when Łydowicz wrote an opinion piece in Cinematography World asking if more women in movies might make art less important. His words were directed at a change.org petition from Women in Cinematography that wanted female cinematographers to get more credit.
“Can we sacrifice works and artists with outstanding achievements solely to make room for mediocre film production?” Żydowicz wrote, which was quickly criticized by professionals in the field all over the world.
Because of this, Fargeat pulled “The Substance,” a movie with Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, from the festival. Benjamin Kračun, who shot the movie, will also not be there. “The Substance is about how these kinds of actions affect our world,” they said in a joint statement.
Another famous director, Steve McQueen, also canceled his plans to attend the festival’s opening night, but his movie Blitz will still be shown. “I can’t get past words that I find deeply offensive,” McQueen said.
Professional groups, like the American and British Societies of Cinematographers, quickly spoke out against Żydowicz’s comments. Later, the festival’s CEO said sorry, pointing out that the original text might not have been translated correctly from Polish and stressing that he never meant to downplay the work of any directors.
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Even though there is increasing pressure on jury head Cate Blanchett to step down, she will not. The jury said in a statement that they supported “meaningful discussions” about inclusion and that they would still honor cinematography.
The annual Camerimage Film Festival starts this Saturday in Toruń, Poland. However, this controversy about representation and respect in the film business has cast a shadow over the event.
