Niki Caro Leads Camerimage Jury, Highlights Gender Disparities in Film
New Zealand filmmaker Niki Caro has taken on the role of jury president at the Camerimage Film Festival in Toruń, Poland, highlighting ongoing gender disparities in the film industry. Caro, known for her work on acclaimed films such as Whale Rider and Disney’s live-action Mulan, steps into this influential position at a time when the festival is under scrutiny for its male-dominated lineup.
Caro’s appointment comes a year after the festival faced criticism regarding the gender imbalance among its official selections. This year, the competition features only three female directors of photography (DPs) out of thirteen films vying for the prestigious Golden Frog award for best film. Caro has been vocal about the troubling trend of declining representation for women behind the camera. “You can just see it statistically,” she states. “Less female cinematographers are shooting films. Less female directors are directing films. So when you see those numbers ticking down, not ticking up, they’re going in the wrong direction, and it’s quite depressing.”
Throughout her career, Caro has prioritized female representation in her projects. On the set of Mulan, she led a team where all department heads, with the exception of the production designer, were women. “You get a bunch of girls running a show like that, everybody’s communicating, everybody’s organized. There’s no bullshit,” she explains. The issue, according to Caro, is not a lack of talent but rather a significant absence of opportunities for emerging female filmmakers. “There’s a tremendous lack of opportunity for the new ones to come through,” she asserts.
As jury president, Caro leads a diverse panel that includes notable figures such as cinematographers José Luis Alcaine and Ellen Kuras, actor Tim Blake Nelson, and producer Sabrina Sutherland. She emphasizes that their evaluations will focus on the artistry of cinematography, stating, “For me as a director, the main question is: Does the cinematography, the choices that are made behind the camera, help to tell the story, are they telling the story the right way, and is it moving the audience?”
Caro’s journey in film has spanned various production scales, and she recalls the ambitious nature of Mulan, describing it as a moment of immense complexity. “When I first read it, I was like, ‘Holy shit, this is huge.’ And then it just got huger,” she says. Working alongside cinematographer Mandy Walker, she highlights the need for meticulous planning to ensure a smooth shoot.
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, which prevented Mulan from being released theatrically, Caro notes the unique advantages of working in the streaming era. Her recent film, The Mother, starring Jennifer Lopez, found success on Netflix, reaching one of the platform’s largest global audiences. “As somebody who has kind of come up through independent film, it just took my breath away to understand how many people were watching this film,” she reflects.
Currently, Caro is developing personal projects, including an adaptation of A Beautiful Family, a novel by first-time New Zealand author Jennifer Trevelyan. Set on New Zealand’s Kāpiti Coast in 1985, the story follows a young girl named Alix as she embarks on a quest to find a girl presumed drowned two years earlier. Caro sees this project as a spiritual companion to her breakout film, Whale Rider.
With the script nearly finalized, Caro is excited about returning to smaller, personal films after years in the studio system. “To be able to develop and nurture these smaller films from seeds is really nice. It’s very hands-on. Feels very bespoke,” she says.
The 33rd Camerimage Film Festival runs from November 15 to 23 in Toruń, Poland, showcasing the art of cinematography while also spotlighting the ongoing challenges faced by women in the industry. As Caro leads the jury, her commitment to addressing these issues remains a central theme of her work and advocacy.
