Top stars at Venice Film Fest praise gender-neutral prizes

VENICE (AP) — Two stars at the Venice Film Festival have praised the decision by the Berlin festival to award gender-neutral prizes starting next year. Tilda Swinton, who was awarded a Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement award at the Venice Film Festival’s opening ceremony, predicted that other festivals and award ceremonies would follow suit. Cate Blanchett, president of the Venice jury this year, said she instinctively calls herself an “actor.” She said the decision is hard enough “to sit in judgment of other people’s work” to then break it down even further along gender lines. The Venice festival has long been criticized for the lack of female directors in its in-competition films. This year, the gender parity at Venice has improved, and 44% of the in-competition films are directed by women.