WWII Film and Festival Bias

Director May el-Toukhy Addresses WWII Horizontal Collaborators and Venice Film Festival Snub

Director May el-Toukhy has spoken about her film, "Woman Unknown," which explores the experiences of women accused of having relationships with German soldiers during World War II. The film was inspired by Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, who collected testimonies from women who shared their experiences during and after the war. The main character, Marie, is about to marry her wealthy employer before liberation in 1945. Despite Venice's decision to include only one female director in the main competition, el-toukhy believes this is a structural problem. She also highlighted the need to rethink the way we make movies.

Topics