Guillermo del Toro calls for gender equality

Venice   :  Venice Film Festival jury President Guillermo del Toro spoke about the need for gender equality on the opening day of the gala, which has come under fire for its dearth of female-directed films in competition.

The Oscar-winning director touched upon the issue on Wednesday at a news conference where he was joined by fellow jury members Christoph Waltz, Naomi Watts, Sylvia Chang, Trine Dyrholm, Nicole Garcia, Paolo Genovese, Malgorzata Szumowska and Taika Waititi, variety.com reported.

"I think the goal has to be 50-50 by 2020. If it's 50-50 by 2019, that's even better," del Toro said.

The under-representation of female directors was in discussion as out of 21 competition titles at the Venice film fest, only one is directed by a woman.

The annual extravaganza has also come under pressure to follow in the footsteps of the Cannes, Locarno and Sarajevo festivals in signing a pledge on gender parity.

"We have a real problem now. It's a real problem in our culture in general. Many of the voices that need to be heard have to be heard. It's not a matter of establishing a quota; it's a matter of in this time, precisely this type of conversation (is needed) to call it out and make it known.

"I think it's necessary because for many decades, if not centuries, it has not been called (out)," del Toro said.

He said he was doing his bit. He says he is currently producing five movies, three of which will be directed by a woman, a pair of whom are making their feature debuts.