Lonely Woman

When Danish director May el-Toukhy was selected for the top competition at the Venice Film Festival in July, she was the only female filmmaker in a 20-strong field -- with a movie "about the invisibility of women". She joked about the irony at a press conference on Sunday, while pointing out that progress on gender bias made in the wake of the 2017 #MeToo movement appeared to be reversing.

"After #MeToo, I think all of us were really aware of this gender imbalance," she told reporters. "And something has happened over the course of the last couple of years where we're kind of returning to, you know, what it used to be -- and so we have to be better."

"A structural problem"

The dearth of females in the top Venice competition has sparked nagging questions about the selection process. Venice boss Alberto Barbera angered many observers in July when he said the initial male domination was because submissions from women "were not enough to put them into the competition".

El-Toukhy said she struggled to find financing for her first film. "I think it took me six or seven years, whereas my male peers, they were much faster than me," she explained. American star Maggie Gyllenhaal, head of the competition jury, echoed the concern: "I do think it's much harder for women to get their films financed."