Director Coralie Fargeat (pictured here with Demi Moore) has withdrawn her film The Substance from the Camerimage Film Festival (Picture: Marc Piasecki/Getty Images)
The Substance director Coralie Fargeat has made the decision to pull the hit body horror film from a film festival facing claims of misogyny.
Fargeat removed her film from the Camerimage Film Festival after its director, Marek Żydowicz, penned a column for Cinematography World magazine that many have found offensive and sexist.
In the column, Żydowicz seemingly asserts that the effort to make the film industry more inclusive will lead to more ‘mediocre film productions’ to the detriment of ‘works and artists with outstanding artistic achievements.’
He wrote: ‘Should we reject what is esteemed and valuable just to “make space” for the necessity of social change?’
He continued: ‘Whilst festivals like Cannes, Berlin or Venice are criticized for their selections due to succumbing to or promoting [political or ideological trends], Camerimage remains committed to artistic values as the foremost criterion for qualifying and promoting film art.’
The column immediately sparked backlash from many, including the British Society of Cinematographers, which wrote in an open letter to Żydowicz: ‘We are disheartened and angered by your profoundly misogynistic comments and aggressive tone, which we view as symptomatic of a deep-rooted prejudice.
Marek Zydowicz is the CEO and founder of Energa Camerimage Film Festival (Picture: Getty Images)
‘A film festival dedicated to the support and encouragement of cinematography and its practitioners deserves better.’
In response, Żydowicz claimed that he never intended to disrespect female filmmakers: ‘We have always strived to showcase only the best of contemporary cinema, regardless of who creates it. And that is how my statement should be understood, there is nothing more to it, it has nothing to do with lack of respect for women.’
He also said that Camerimage has worked with Women in Cinematography to craft a diversity and inclusion policy.
Women in Cinematography seemed to take issue with the implication that they’d in any way endorsed the festival, publishing a list of films shot by female cinemotographers that had historically been excluded from the festival.
Coralie Fargeat called Zydowicz words ‘highly misogynistic’ (Photo by Borja B. Hojas/Getty Images)
These included films like Mudbound, The Power of the Dog, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, the latter of which was entirely excluded from the festival.
The organization wrote: ‘Can Camerimage claim to be first and foremost about artistic merit when it overlooks these brilliant and lauded achievements?’
In a startling statistic Women in Cinematography stated that only 3.1% of films selected for the festival’s main competition have been shot by women in 30 years.
As a result of the sudden spotlight on the festival’s gender disparity issues, Fargeat pulled The Substance from the festival in protest.
She wrote in a statement on X: ‘After discovering the highly misogynistic and offensive words of the director of the Camerimage Film Festival, I have decided to pull THE SUBSTANCE from the festival (and [director of photography] Benjamin Kračun has decided not to attend.’
The film disgusted and captivated audiences in equal measure (Picture: AP)
She continued: ‘The Substance is about the impact of exactly these types of behaviours on our world. we shouldn’t tolerate them anymore. We send our support to all involved in the festival and hope this decision will help create a much needed change.’
The Substance, which first premiered to rave reviews at Cannes this year and earned a prize for its screenplay, was called ‘the most disgusting film I have ever seen’ by Metro’s own film critic.
The movie takes body horror to the extreme, but also makes a moving and devastating point about the way a woman’s social value wanes as she ages.
Margaret Qualley plays the younger version of Moore’s character in the film (Picture: AP)
The plot follows fading A-list actress Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) who, after being axed from her excercise show by Dennis Quaid’s TV exec Harvey, takes an experimental substance that ‘generates a new, younger, more beautiful, more perfect, you.’
This new version of Elisabeth, played by Margaret Qualley, then bursts forth from Moore’s body to live a youthful, glamorous life part-time.
Starring Demi Moore in a vulnerable and exposing comeback performance, the film is about the way women’s voices are often undervalued while their images and sexuality are exploited – putting it in direct opposition to Żydowicz’s problematic comments.
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