Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Venice Jury Didn’t Award ‘Woman Unknown’ the Golden Lion Just Because It Was Directed by a Woman: It ‘Was Like a Laser Beam’

By Ellise Shafer

Ellise Shafer

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Maggie Gyllenhaal kicked off her term as Venice jury president by calling out the lack of women filmmakers in the running for the prestigious Golden Lion. And on Saturday night, she concluded it by awarding the prize to the only film solely directed by a woman: May el-Toukhy’s “Woman Unknown.”

But at a press conference after the awards ceremony, Gyllenhaal rejected the notion that she and her fellow jury members were making any sort of “political statement,” as one journalist put it, with their selection. “I actually didn’t see ‘Woman Unknown,'” she deadpanned. “I just was like, ‘It’s made by a woman and so, Golden Lion!'”

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