Insults and hugs: Australian director surprised by Venice controversy

From being called a whore to grateful hugs, Australian director Jennifer Kent has been surprised by the extreme emotional response at the Venice Film Festival to her new film about what she calls the epidemic of violence against women.

The world premiere of The Nightingale, her long-awaited follow-up to the hit horror film The Babadook, has been surrounded by controversy.

"It's certainly been a lively entry to the world," Kent said. "I didn't expect it be so controversial, but obviously it's tough material."

"It's wonderful if people are feeling things after this film": Jennifer Kent (left) with star Aisling Franciosi at the world premiere of The Nightingale at the Venice Film Festival.

“It’s wonderful if people are feeling things after this film”: Jennifer Kent (left) with star Aisling Franciosi at the world premiere of The Nightingale at the Venice Film Festival.

The film, about a young Irish woman and an Aboriginal tracker hunting a sexually violent British officer through the Tasmanian wilderness in the 1820s, attracted international headlines when a blogger yelled, "Shame on you, whore, you’re disgusting!" in Italian during the final credits, leading to his festival credentials being revoked.

The festival had already been accused of sexism for selecting The Nightingale as the only film by a woman director in competition for the second year in a row, prompting jury president Guillermo del Toro to call for 50-50 gender parity within two years.

Speaking to Fairfax from Venice, Kent said she was initially amused when she heard about the blogger's outburst at the press screening.

"I laughed because it was so silly," she said. "The character of Clare in the film is called this word endlessly, being an Irish convict, and there are assumptions made, so it was something that amused me.

"It's just a heckler at a film, but I guess this is the age of social media where things like that become a sensation. I feel for the man, but my overall response is that this is why the film needed to be made, because it's all about that attitude."

The first reviews for The Nightingale were positive –Variety described it as "an elemental revenge tale" that "attains near-mythic grandeur over the course of its arduous, ravishing trek" – with some critics calling it their pick for the Golden Lion, the festival's top prize.

Kent turned down directing offers around the world to shoot it in Tasmania with a cast headed by Irish actress Aisling Franciosi (Game of Thrones), Indigenous dancer Baykali Ganambarr in his first acting role and Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games).

"It's wonderful if people are feeling things after this film," she said. "To walk out of a film like that and have young women approach me who want to hug me and are moved to tears and just want to say 'thank you' is the reason I'm a filmmaker.

"To get that kind of response from people – genuine vulnerable response – is sublime and beautiful and very touching."

While the film deals with the fallout from sexual assault, Kent insisted The Nightingale was not about violence.

"For me it's a film about love and compassion and kindness and empathy," she said. "What's more important than that?

"To tell a story that ultimately turns to those things as a possible solution, for me there's no other story to tell.

"The fact that it tied into issues of racism in our own country and sexism – yes they happened 200 years ago but sadly are very relevant now – was a subject I couldn't ignore."

Aisling Franciosi in The Nightingale.

Aisling Franciosi in The Nightingale.

Kent shot The Nightingale before the start of the #MeToo movement, but has seen it become more relevant after the wave of sexual assault allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein and others.

"My editor and I would often look at each other in shock," she says. "The things that were playing out in the film were playing out in the entertainment world.

"It gave us a sense that now is the right time for this film and if it makes people uncomfortable, then I've done my job."

While insisting The Nightingale was not "male-bashing", Kent said she wanted to address violence against women around the world.

"To really begin to address violence towards women, we need to address the behaviour of the perpetrators and to seek to enlist some kind of compassion for that behaviour.

"I don't mean to dismiss it but to seek to understand it so that we can change our young men, change our boys, change our women in the way that we all relate to sexual violence."

After an Australian premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival next month, The Nightingale opens in cinemas early next year.

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