Shahrbanoo Sadat and Jelena Maksimović Hit Back at Discrimination in Film Funding at Tokyo Festival Talk

A lack of funding, and ignorance in the institutions that control it, keeps women at an inherent disadvantage in the film industry, Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat said at a Tokyo International Film Festival talk on the future of women’s cinema. “The discrimination did not start at the festival, but it started at the development level,” […] At a Tokyo festival talk, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Jelena Maksimović discussed the financial and political barriers women face in the film industry. A lack of funding, and ignorance in the institutions that control it, keeps women at an inherent disadvantage in the film industry, Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat said at a Tokyo International Film Festival talk on the future of women’s cinema.

“The discrimination did not start at the festival, but it started at the development level,” said Sadat, who sat on this year’s Venice competition jury, reflecting on the lackluster ratio of films by women selected for competition. The talk, part of the festival’s Tokyo Talk sessions at the TIFF Lounge in Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, also featured Serbian director Jelena Maksimović, whose “Until the Day Ends” played in Venice’s Orizzonti section. Sadat, now based in Germany, saw her latest feature “No Good Men” open the 76th Berlinale