Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat and Serbian filmmaker Jelena Maksimović addressed the systemic financial barriers facing women in the film industry during a Tokyo Talk session at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Speaking at the TIFF Lounge in Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, the two directors argued that discrimination begins at the development level due to a lack of funding and institutional ignorance, rather than starting at festival selection committees.
Sadat, who recently served on the Venice competition jury and whose latest feature "No Good Men" opened the 76th Berlinale, highlighted the stark disparity in representation. She noted that only one film directed by a woman, May el-Toukhy's "Woman Unknown," was selected for the main competition at this year's Venice Film Festival out of twenty entries. Sadat criticized the justification provided by Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera, who stated that the single female-directed entry was the only one of adequate quality to compete internationally. Sadat countered that male directors are often permitted to submit lower-quality work without facing the same scrutiny, suggesting that women are held to an impossible standard where anything less than perfection is punished.
Maksimović, whose film "Until the Day Ends" screened in Venice's Orizzonti section, discussed the specific political and financial challenges in Serbia. She explained that while the Film Center Serbia functioned decently for a period, its funding was entirely cut off by the outgoing government in retaliation for filmmakers supporting student anti-corruption protests. These protests, which originated following the deadly 2024 collapse of a train station canopy in Novi Sad, culminated in a student-led victory in the snap parliamentary election on October 25 and the resignation of President Aleksandar Vučić in September. Despite this political shift, Maksimović warned that repairing the damage to the film infrastructure will take time.
Both directors emphasized that accessing funding often requires conformity to established norms. Maksimović described a "bubble" among filmmakers making less mainstream features who avoid applying for major funding because they anticipate rejection. She noted that even when state funding was available, the amounts were small and co-production opportunities scarce, yet male filmmakers in Serbia enjoyed privileges denied to women. Sadat echoed these sentiments regarding her experience in Afghanistan, describing a "cultural mafia" of older men that excludes women from the industry unless they capitulate or submit to compromise. She added that while she connected with European filmmaking systems to bypass local barriers, fundamental discrimination persists within those structures as well.
Moderated by film scholar Takasaki Ikuko, the session also touched upon the broader context of women's careers in film, following other festival events including a Women's Empowerment section and an animation symposium. When asked by an audience member about achieving material change beyond lip service, given that only about four films in the Tokyo selection were made by women, Sadat reiterated the need to overhaul funding systems and committees. Maksimović added that she does not want her work viewed tokenistically, questioning whether current efforts are genuinely changing the landscape or simply categorizing women into boxes.
Looking toward the future, Sadat reflected on the reality of coming from a war-torn country where survival takes precedence over long-term planning. She suggested that meaningful change often begins with small steps rather than waiting for large-scale transformations, noting that progress happens gradually over a very long time.
Sources: Variety.