May el-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown is competing for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, where she is one of two female directors in the field. This account is based on reporting by Deadline.
El-Toukhy said the limited representation of women in the competition has stayed with her despite being “delighted” and “honored” to be selected. “It tells us there’s still lots of work to do,” she told Deadline, calling the imbalance a structural problem and noting she has often been the only woman in professional settings.
When Venice announced its July lineup, Deadline reported that el-Toukhy was the sole woman among 20 directors in the main competition. Rachel Szor later joined as co-director, with Yuval Abraham, of Neza.
Set in Denmark in the summer of 1945, Woman Unknown follows Marie, a nanny and housemaid played by Mathilde Arcel, as a secret threatens her planned marriage to her older, widowed employer, played by Carsten Bjørnlund. The story unfolds amid the public shaming of Danish women accused of fraternizing with German soldiers after liberation.
For audiences following awards-season cinema, the selection puts both el-Toukhy’s thriller and the continuing question of representation in major festival competition into focus. Deadline noted that Venice has awarded three Golden Lions to female directors since 2020.
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