Venice jury chair calls out film industry's 'systemic problem'

Maggie Gyllenhaal, the actor-director chairing the Venice Film Festival jury, said the film industry has a 'systemic problem' with sexism, according to The Guardian. Speaking at the festival's opening, she addressed why the jury she leads will be shown only two films made by female directors in the competition for the Golden Lion.

The remarks arrive as the festival, which opened Wednesday on the Lido, draws the international film world's attention to the Italian coast. For Liguria, the festival is the region's most visible cultural event, a two-week stretch each autumn when the waterfront of Venice — a rival maritime republic to Genoa's own — becomes the centre of the global film calendar.