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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen has withdrawn from Poland’s Camerimage Film Festival – where his movie Blitz will be the opening film – due to what he says are “deeply offensive” remarks by the event’s organiser, Marek Żydowicz, about female filmmakers.
Żydowicz has now apologised for his comments, which have been condemned as sexist by many figures in the industry. Meanwhile, the main jury at the festival, which is chaired by Oscar-winning actor Cate Blanchett, has said it will support efforts to make the event more inclusive.
Steve McQueen rezygnuje z przyjazdu na Camerimage. Jury zabrało głos#PAPinformacje https://t.co/v0xjkFK9xd
— PAP (@PAPinformacje) November 14, 2024
The controversy was sparked by an article Żydowicz published in trade magazine Cinematography World. He suggested that the push to feature work by female filmmakers could result in more “mediocre productions” appearing at festivals rather than “outstanding artistic achievements”.
“Should we reject what is esteemed and valuable just to ‘make space’ for the necessity of social change?” he asked. “Camerimage remains committed to artistic values as the foremost criterion for qualifying and promoting film art.”
That prompted criticism from many in the industry, including the British Society of Cinematographers, which wrote that it was “disheartened and angered by your profoundly misogynistic comments and aggressive tone, which we view as symptomatic of a deep-rooted prejudice”.
On Tuesday, Women In Cinematography – a collective of filmmakers – issued a statement accusing Camerimage of “historically excluding” women through the films it chooses to screen and the people it appoints to prominent positions on its main jury.
They said they had repeatedly tried to raise the issue in the past and accused Żydowicz of trying to “shield [the] festival from rightful criticism”. The group published a list of seven steps they wanted to see taken to make the festival more inclusive.
On the same day, McQueen – who in 2014 became the first black filmmaker to win the Academy Award for best picture, for his 12 Years a Slave – announced that he would not attend Camerimage, which is held in the Polish city of Toruń.
“Having read Marek Żydowicz’s op-ed concerning female cinematographers, I have decided not to attend the opening night presentation of my film Blitz this weekend,” McQueen said in a statement to Variety. “Although he has issued an apology, I cannot get past what I consider deeply offensive words.”
To mark the release of Agnieszka Holland's "Green Border" in the US and UK, @isa_jcbs lists ten must-watch films by Polish women.
They include interwar avant-garde cinema, the world's first Holocaust film, and reflections on feminism https://t.co/9UhC7LmqxM
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 28, 2024
In response, Żydowicz expressed his “great sadness” at McQueen’s decision. “I apologise once more, and I would like to take this opportunity to sit down in an open forum and talk about how to move forward together in a more open and inclusive manner,” he wrote in a statement.
On Wednesday, film producer Anna Higgs issued a statement on behalf of herself and the rest of the main jury at this year’s Camerimage, including Blanchett.
“We wholeheartedly support the necessary shift towards genuine inclusivity,” they wrote. “We look forward to being part of meaningful discussions with our peers at the festival about greater inclusion and recognition of excellence in all its forms.”
Camerimage has taken place annually in Poland since 1993. This year’s event, which begins on Saturday, will feature the world premiere of Rust, the film that tragically saw the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during production after she was shot by a live round fired from a prop gun being used by actor Alec Baldwin.
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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Cornerhouse/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
