White men are still the decision makers and gatekeepers for big budget commercial movies and the glass ceiling for women remains in place, the head of the BFI London film festival has said.
Tricia Tuttle welcomed an increase in the number of films directed or co-directed by women in this year’s programme as she announced details of the festival. The overall figure, including shorts, has gone up to 40%, from 38% last year. In the competition strands, 64% of the films are made by women.
Tuttle said: “We would have all been disappointed if it was less than last year because there are more great films being made by female film-makers and we want to see that reflected in the programme.”
The film industry’s main gender problem is now in the commercial sector, said Tuttle. “I have friends who are film-makers, who work in film and television, and they feel frustrated that they can’t get the kind of budgets that some male film-makers can, so it is still an issue.”
She said the reason was clear: the people making decisions about the top grossing movies remained “typically male and white”.
The London film festival does not have quotas and every film-maker was there because they had earned their place, she said.
There is a 50/50 gender split in the festival programme team, she said. “We all bring our own personal bias to curatorial decisions, we bring our own prejudices, passions, life experiences. I think if you get the right team in place, you get the right programme.”
The BFI had an even gender split for the films it financed but that was not replicated in the commercial sector, which was reflected in the domination by men of the Oscars and Baftas, said Tuttle.
One of the few women getting awards-season buzz so far this year is Marielle Heller, whose film A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood stars Tom Hanks as the late US children’s TV host Mr Rogers. It will be the BFI patrons’ gala film.
“Genuinely, you would have to have a heart of absolute ice not to be moved by this film,” said Tuttle. “It feels very topical … it’s about community, it’s about kindness, compassion – it feels like a film of the moment.”
Other headline gala films include Tom Harper’s hot air balloon adventure The Aeronauts, starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones; Michael Winterbottom’s Greed, starring Steve Coogan as a high street retail tycoon clinging on after a series of fraud investigations; Le Mans ’66, starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale; and Netflix’s Shakespeare adaptation The King, starring Timothée Chalamet as Henry V and Robert Pattinson as his nemesis, the Dauphin of France.
Among the guests on the red carpet in London this year will be Bruce Springsteen, in the city for the European premiere of Western Stars, a performance of his 19th studio album.
Organisers said 229 feature films would be screened at the festival with 28 world premieres, 12 international Premieres and 28 European premieres.
A fascinating European premiere is likely to be Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, with the main character being a game but inept member of the Hitler Youth. Waititi stars as Jojo’s imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler.
The opening film will be Armando Iannucci’s adaptation of David Copperfield, with Martin Scorsese’s organised crime drama The Irishman closing the festival.
Ten films will compete for the best film award in the official competition, including Isabel Sandoval’s Lingua Franca, which tells the story of a Filipino trans woman; Fanny Lye Deliver’d, a period drama starring Maxine Peake; and Honey Boy, written by and starring Shia LaBeouf.
Tuttle said the film landscape was a healthy one, with film-makers exploring pressing social and political problems, and emerging talents making movies with “startlingly bold, original and ambitious debuts”.
The UK’s largest film festival remains in the shadow of Cannes, Venice and Toronto, which hoover up the most eye-catching world premieres. Venice, the world’s oldest film festival, opened this week, and has again faced criticism for its poor record on female representation.
The BFI London film festival runs from 2-13 October
