Section:GDN 1N PaGe:19 Edition Date:190830 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 29/8/2019 17:56 cYanmaGentaYellowb
Friday 30 Aug ust 2019 The Guardian •
National^19
White men still dominate decision-making
for big-budget fi lms, says BFI festival boss
Mark Brown
Arts correspondent
White men are still the decision-
makers and gatekeepers for big-budget
commercial movies and the glass
ceiling for women remains in place,
says the head of the BFI London fi lm
festival.
Tricia Tuttle welcomed a rise in the
number of fi lms directed or co-directed
by women in this year’s programme as
she announced details of the festival.
The overall fi gure, including shorts,
was 40%, up from 38% last year. In the
competition strands, 64% of the fi lms
were made by women.
“We would have all been disap-
pointed if it was less than last year
because there are more great fi lms
being made by female fi lm-makers
and we want to see that refl ected in
the programme,” Tuttle said.
The fi lm industry’s main gender
problem was now in the commer-
cial sector. “I have friends who are
fi lm-makers, who work in fi lm and
television, and they feel frustrated
that they can’t get the kind of budgets
that some male fi lm-makers can .”
Tuttle said the reason was clear: the
Matt Damon and Christian Bale ; and
Netfl ix’s Shakespeare adaptation The
King , starring Timothée Chalamet as
Henry V and Robert Pattinson as his
nemesis, the Dauphin of France.
Among the guests on the red carpet
this year will be Bruce Springsteen ,
who will be promoting the European
premiere of Western Stars , a feature-
length fi lm in which he performs all of
his 19th studio album.
Organisers said 229 feature fi lms
would be screened at the festival,
which runs from 2-13 October, with
28 world premieres, 12 international
premieres and 28 European premieres.
Among the European premiere s is
Taika Waititi ’s Jojo Rabbit , with the
main character being a game but inept
member of the Hitler Youth. Waititi
also stars as Jojo’s imaginary friend,
Adolf Hitler. The opening fi lm will
be Armando Iannucci’ s adaptation
of David Copperfi eld , with Martin
Scorsese ’s organised crime drama The
Irishman closing the festival.
Ten films will compete for the
best fi lm award in the offi cial com-
petition, including Isabel Sandoval ’s
Lingua Franca , which tells the story
of a Filipino trans woman; Fanny Lye
Deliver’d , a period drama starring
Maxine Peake ; and Honey Boy ,^ written
by and starring Shia LaBeouf.
The UK’s largest film festival
remains in the shadow of Cannes,
Venice and Toronto, which showcase
the most eye-catching world
premieres. Venice opened this week
amid criticism for its continuing poor
record on female representation. The London fi lm festival’s director,
Tricia Tuttle, said female fi lm-makers
faced a gender divide over fi nancing
PHOTOGRAPH: TIM P WHITBY/GETTYpeople making decisions about the top
grossing movies remained “typically
male and white ”.
The London fi lm festival did not
have quotas and every fi lm- maker
was there because they had earned
their place, she added. There was
also a 50 /50 gender split in the festival
programme team.
“We all bring our own personal bias
to curatorial decisions, we bring our
own prejudices, passions, life experi-
ences. I think if you get the right team
in place, you get the right programme.”PA Media
A total of £15 m was donated to Brit-
ain’s political parties between April
and June, more than double the sum
received in the fi rst quarter of this year.
Amid speculation of an autumn
snap election, parties have signifi -
cantly bolstered their war chests.
The Electoral Commission said an
extra £8 m was accepted by 16 parties
in the second quarter of this year than
between January and March.
The Conservative party appears
to have been buoyed by Theresa May
announcing her resignation, with her
successor Boris Johnson ’s pledge to
deliver Brexit by the 31 October dead-
line apparently attract ing donors.
The commission reported that the
Tories received the highest number of
donations of the 16 parties to declare
their earnings, taking £5,410,
in the three-month period. Of that,
£5,344,058 was given as donations
and £67,000 as public funds.
The second-highest total was
reported by Labour , with Jeremy
Corbyn’s party receiving about £5 m,
including £2.9 m of public funds.
The Liberal Democrats received
£1.8 m, with £1.2 m given as donations
and £600,000 as public funds. The
party pulled off its best-ever local elec-
tion result in its history in May when
it returned 1,351 councillors. Nigel
Farage’s fl edgling Brexit party received
more than £1 m in the second quarter ,
helping it win 29 seats in the European
parliament in May.
The Scottish National party
accepted £493,000 in donations , while
the Green party, which has a single
MP, accepted £174,000. The lowest
recorded donation total was £6,
for the Radical party.
Political parties are required to
submit quarterly donation and loan
returns to the Electoral Commission.
Louise Edwards, the director of
regulation at the commission, said:
“Publishing data about party dona-
tions and loans on our online database
means voters can clearly see where
political parties receive their funds
from. This leads to a more trusted and
transparent political fi nance system .”Party war chests
swell as political
donations more
than double
The BFI had an even gender split for
the fi lms it fi nance d but that was not
replicated in the commercial sector,
which was refl ected in the domination
by men at the Oscar and Bafta awards,
Tuttle said.
One of the few women getting
awards-season buzz so far this year is
Marielle Heller , whose fi lm A Beautiful
Day in the Neighbo rhood stars Tom
Hanks as the late US children’s TV host
Fred Rogers. It will be the BFI patrons’
gala fi lm.
“Genuinely, you would have to have
a heart of absolute ice not to be moved
by this fi lm,” said Tuttle. “It feels very
topical ... it’s about community, it’s
about kindness, compassion – it feels
like a fi lm of the moment.”
Other headline gala fi lms include
Tom Harper ’s hot air balloon adven-
ture The Aeronauts, starring Eddie
Redmayne and Felicity Jones ; Michael
Winterbottom ’s Greed, starring Steve
Coogan as a high street retail tycoon
clinging on after a series of fraud
investigations; Le Mans ’66 , featuring£5.4m
Total donations to the Conservative
party between April and June –
including £67,000 as public funds£5m
Donations to the Labour party
over the same period, of which
£2.9m came from public funds£1.8m
Total donations to the Liberal
Democrats in second quarter, with
£600,000 coming from public fundsHow biggest parties fared
‘I have friends who
work in fi lm and
television, and they
feel frustrated that
they can’t get the kind
of budgets some male
fi lm-makers can’Tricia TuttleRELEASED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws