Director Jennifer Kent Reacts To Sexist Insult That Disrupted ‘The Nightingale’ Press Screening

Screenings and premieres are supposed to be the last places on Earth where you’d expect to find unruly and disrespectful filmgoers. In the case of premieres, it appears that not even a highly-anticipated Venice world premiere from the Oscar-nominated filmmaker Luca Guadagnino is immune from disrespectful audiences, as we discovered recently. However, what happened at last night’s “The Nightingale” press screening must take the cake for one of the most disrespectful showings at any press screening or premiere during this year’s Venice Film Festival.

For those not aware, “The Nightingale” is the latest film from director Jennifer Kent, who burst on the filmmaking scene with her amazing horror film “The Babadook.” Not only did that pedigree make Kent’s latest a hot ticket item for press at Venice, but there’s the undercurrent of female representation (or lack thereof) at the festival, which has been mentioned multiple times. You see, Kent is the only female filmmaker to be chosen for this year’s official competition, which included 21 feature films.

READ MORE: Jennifer Kent’s ‘The Nightingale’ Is A Thrilling Revenge Story That Falls Short Of Really Singing [Venice Review]

So, you can imagine the horror when “The Nightingale” press screening was ending, with the credits rolling, and a member of the Italian press shouted “Shame on you, whore! You Suck!” when Kent’s name appeared on the screen. What followed was a barrage of social media conversation attempting to pinpoint exactly who was the audience member that shouted.

Eventually, the person who disrupted the screening and yelled the obscenity came forward with an apology. We won’t butcher the translation too much, but Sharif Meghdoud said, “I put my face on it and take responsibility.” He goes on to apologize to Kent and to explain that his comment was not meant to be sexist in any way.

Reactions online were pretty harsh, as expected, with our own Jessica Kiang, who attended the screening, saying, “Sexist who shouted ‘Whore’ at Jennifer Kent’s name last night claims he was not being sexist, in stellar example of how sexism works.”

Kent responded very calmly when asked about the incident at her Venice press conference, saying (via Variety), “it’s of absolute importance to react with compassion and love for ignorance. There is no other option.”

She continued, “The film speaks very clearly to that. I am very proud of the film and my crew for daring to tell a story that needs to be told. Love, compassion, kindness are our lifeline, and if we don’t utilize them, we will all go down the plughole.”

And obviously, there were questions about the aforementioned controversy surrounding the lack of female representation in the official competition.

READ MORE: Venice Film Festival Signs Pledge To Adopt Policies For Gender Parity In Light Of Recent Backlash

“It’s not about me, but it is quite hard for me because I wish I had my sister filmmakers here. It’s important we move towards gender parity. Cinema’s job is to reflect the world, and if we only reflect 50% of the world, then it’s not doing its job. It’s a very serious issue,” Kent said. “There are other filmmakers that are under-represented: indigenous filmmakers, filmmakers of color, filmmakers from developing countries, filmmakers who don’t identify as cisgender men or women. We still have a lot of way to go.”

“The Nightingale” is being shopped around during Venice and has no firm plans for a release strategy, as of yet.

Here’s the first clip from the film:

https://www.facebook.com/theplaylist/videos/2260134750681585/