By Max Borg
In an unusual twist of fate, the major scandal tied to a fall film festival in 2022 was not because of a movie that screened at the event, but rather one that didn’t. Mere hours before Ulrich Seidl’s Sparta was scheduled to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, it was pulled because of concerns raised by an article in Der Spiegel, alleging that the Austrian director misled the younger cast members regarding the film’s subject matter. (Seidl has disputed this account, and the film subsequently screened without incident at San Sebastián and the Viennale, ahead of its general theatrical release in 2023, in addition to a special Rotterdam showing of Rimini and Sparta as a single film). Conversely, Corsage, another Austrian film that did screen in Toronto, was recently pulled from cinemas in its home country after one of the actors pled guilty to possession of child pornography.
In an era of increased political correctness and scrutiny, American events appear to be playing it much safer than their European counterparts. Roman Polanski and Woody Allen are no longer part of the event circuit in the U.S. and Canada, and David O. Russell, whose Silver Linings Playbook won the People’s Choice Award in Toronto ten years ago, was a no-show with Amsterdam, presumably because of his well-documented anger issues on set and allegations of sexual misconduct. A source with knowledge of the situation has told us Bryan Singer’s Bohemian Rhapsody skipped the larger festivals in 2018 for similar reasons.
But even in Europe, where controversial filmmakers and actors are generally not shunned (Alberto Barbera, who programmed a posthumous Kim Ki-duk project at this year’s Venice Film Festival, defended the choice by pointing out, once again, that festivals are not courtrooms), things are not always that clear-cut. When we interviewed Torsten Neumann ahead of Oldenburg in September, he praised Thierry Frémaux’s policy of putting the art first when it comes to Cannes.
The Film Verdict reached out to several European festival directors for their thoughts on the matter, and while none of them were willing to comment on the specific situation or the contrast between continents, they largely agreed that films should be allowed to speak for themselves, especially when shutting out certain titles might lead to a risk of greater conformity within the artform itself (some festivals declined to comment, citing the complexity of the topic).
José Luis Rebordinos, artistic director of San Sebastián, evoked the angry comments that came with the 2021 edition, which had Johnny Depp as a guest of honor, and took a stance similar to Barbera’s: “We live in a time when people are judged on social media rather than in court. Johnny Depp had not even been charged with abuse in court and many people already assumed he was guilty. We will always defend the right to the presumption of innocence.”
In some cases, gray areas also emerge within a general consensus on how to deal with a certain issue. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, most festivals decreed that films financed by the Russian State would not be considered for selection. Eva Sangiorgi, artistic director of the Viennale, was asked about this when presenting the 2022 lineup, and stated that some nuance ought to be taken into account, since truly independent productions are rare in Russia, and therefore the filmmaker’s values, as well as those of the work itself, should be a factor. (Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa, who had two films in selection at the festival, was expelled from his country’s Film Academy for holding similar beliefs).
Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of Locarno, had this to say on the matter: “Cinema is the art of seeing with one’s own eyes, as Stan Brakhage claimed. Cinema is the place for freedom of thought and expression. The purpose of the rightful demand – and the rightful efforts – to have an inclusive, democratic film industry, as it should be, is to have access to a plurality of voices and gazes. Past mistakes should never lead us to make new ones just because they were well-intentioned. And censorship is never a good idea.”
Finally, we spoke to Carlo Chatrian, whose first year at the helm of the Berlinale featured some complaints regarding the inclusion of films from the Russian DAU project (whose makers have been accused of various forms of unprofessional behavior on set; the cast and crew have denied the allegations). Says Chatrian: “I think there’s a different matter to discuss. Can a film still be challenging and provocative? Can a film today do what Pasolini did with Salò? On the one hand, it is vital to recognize the film industry’s new pursuit of awareness and transparency; on the other, there’s a risk of reducing the art of film to a tool in the hands of a dominant line of thinking, which is as neutral as it is hypocritical.”
