A Fake Controversy at Camerimage Proves Fanaticism Still Dominates the Film Industry

Steve McQueen pulled out of the EnergaCamerimage festival, where he was to be named as Director of the Year. Why? Because the director said words. Yes. He dared to have an opinion. Silly goose. Doesn’t he know opinions are no longer welcome in the so-called art and entertainment realm? No, you must always comply, and you must always agree, and if you don’t, WE WILL RUIN YOU.

What did he dare say that caused Penske Media to blanket the internet with outraged headlines about the “controversy,” with Steve McQueen withdrawing and forcing an apology (you know the score – it plays out the same way every time)?

Penske Media does what it must, with identical headlines and stories that all say the same thing, zero original thought anywhere to be found — a pretense of objectivity when, in fact, they take a side. Everyone is afraid of losing their jobs.

What was the great crime? Telling the truth. Remember that? It used to exist oh so long ago, but it’s gone — along with the testicles of almost every man in Hollywood and in media.

Here, Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel:

With that said, there’s now industry backlash aimed towards Camerimage director Marek Żydowicz’s op-ed in Cinematography World. He writes about the growing number of women cinematographers and directors, and comments: “Can we sacrifice works and artists with outstanding artistic achievements solely to make room for mediocre productions?”.

He adds, “While EnergaCamerimage strives to acknowledge the contributions of women in cinematography, it also aims to maintain artistic integrity. Change? Yes, but let’s remain decent and honest. It’s about rapid evolution, not a fanatical revolution that destroys the cathedrals of art and throws out its sculptures and paintings.”

The answer is no, you should not make room for mediocre productions.  You can’t achieve excellence, award it or encourage it by sidelining it to make room for “inclusivity.” You can be what Hollywood has become, a social justice film school, but greatness will always be a thing of the past because greatness is now graded on a curve. It’s been this way for a while, which is why Hollywood is collapsing.

But boy, they sure love pushing that red panic button, don’t they? They love going to war with the truth. Pressure Żydowicz into apologizing for speaking the truth, and that means you changed the world! Good on you. You silenced one more person. And all that means is more mediocre work gets pushed as excellent, gets nominations and awards as great becaue it isn’t really about greatness. It’s about making the influential people feel better about themselves and pretending everyone is EQUAL.

But everyone isn’t equal. Some people are brilliant directors and cinematographers — some people aren’t.  Maybe they were all offended because he chose the word “mediocre,” and in English, that is a far more offensive term than whatever he was trying to say in Polish. But we can’t go that far. We can’t give him the benefit of the doubt, oh no. Reality hurts too much. The truth is too bitter of a pill to swallow. AND The red panic button is RIGHT THERE. We have to push it. We NEED it. We need to make the world more equal, and thus, we need an endless supply of thought criminals who dare say the world is not equal. We need more sexists and misogynists to help fuel our movement!

For her part, and maybe because she acted in a movie called TAR, Cate Blanchett is not pulling out of the festival — my god, people, listen to yourselves. Look at what you’ve become.

We welcome debate regarding gender representation. We look forward to being part of meaningful discussions with our peers at the festival about greater inclusion and recognition of excellence in all its forms in our industry. We wholeheartedly support the necessary shift towards genuine inclusivity and festivals can be a great forum for engaging in such conversations and championing positive change.

He had nothing to apologize for. NOTHING. McQueen should not have exited the festival over this. If you want to save the film awards industry — and maybe you don’t — then merit has to enter the chat. Sorry, but it does. Actually, not sorry. Not even a little bit. What else can they possibly do to me?