At the 2024 Camerimage Film Festival, Cate Blanchett and her fellow judges released a statement of support after the festival. involved in controversy due to a controversial editorial by the festival director earlier this week.

Camerimage, the world’s leading specialist festival dedicated to the art of cinematography, is scheduled to kick off on Saturday in Toruń, Poland. The festival has long been an industry favorite, especially among directors and their artistic collaborators, but it has come under scrutiny after founder and CEO Marek Zydowicz published an editorial last week attempting to explain the event’s lack of female cinematographers in past editions. . In his somewhat confused article, the festival president seemed to argue that pushing for more female representation could lead to a decline in artistic quality. Reaction international The film community acted quickly, with many leading cinematographers’ guilds publicly condemning the remarks and Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen, who was scheduled to attend the opening night screening of his latest feature, in attendance. Lightening, cancel his appearance.

Oscar winner Cate Blanchett previously chaired Camerimage’s main competition jury, so industry observers were curious to gauge her reaction to this upheaval. tar And Disclaimer Star gave her response in a joint statement published on Instagram on Wednesday with judges Anna Higgs, Sandy Powell, Anthony Dod Mantle, Rodrigo Prieto, Lukasz Zal and Jolanta Dylewska.

“We welcome discussions about gender representation,” the group wrote. “We look forward to being part of meaningful discussions with our festival colleagues about greater inclusion and recognition of excellence in all its forms within our industry, as we focus on the task we are so privileged to watch and celebrate the work of cinematographers. We wholeheartedly support the necessary shift towards true inclusivity, and festivals are committed to this “It can be a great forum to engage in such conversations and support positive change.”

Sources close to Camerimage say discussions are underway for Blanchett and some other jurors to potentially participate in a public roundtable to discuss important issues and changes underway in the film industry, including representation.

In response to the departure of McQueen, who was expected to receive the festival’s outstanding director award, Żydowicz said: Hollywood Reporter“It is with great sadness that I accept Steve McQueen’s decision to withdraw from the festival. Once again, I apologize and would like to take this opportunity to sit down in an open forum and talk about how we can move forward together in a more open and inclusive way. The festival is here to embrace each other as a community and share an appreciation of the images we cherish together. Let’s collectively create meaningful discourse as a community so we can begin to rebuild more equitably. “Let’s talk and determine the steps that will make the festival and our industry more open, united and representative of all voices.”