‘The Substance’ Director Exits Festival Over ‘Misogynistic’ Comments

The Substance director Coralie Fargeat announced that she’s pulling the film from Camerimage Film Festival in Poland over controversial comments the festival’s CEO had made about female cinematographers last week.

“After discovering the highly misogynistic and offensive words of the director of the Camerimage Film Festival, I have decided to pull The Substance from the festival (and [director of photography] Benjamin Kračun has decided not to attend),” Fargeat wrote on X Friday. “The Substance is about the impact of exactly these types of behaviors on our world. We shouldn’t tolerate them anymore. We send our support to all involved in the festival and hope this decision will help create a much needed change.”

As The Hollywood Reporter reported earlier this week, Camerimage’s founder and CEO Marek Zydowicz sparked controversy after penning an editorial responding to calls for his festival to highlight more work from female cinematographers. Zydowicz seemed to argue that doing so could be at odds with showcasing the best work in the industry.

“This evolution is crucial as it rectifies the obvious injustice present in societal development,” he wrote in Cinematography World magazine, per THR. “However, it also raises a question: Can the pursuit of change exclude what is good? Can we sacrifice works and artists with outstanding artistic achievements solely to make room for mediocre film production?”

A rep for Camerimage didn’t immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.

The Substance itself heavily satirizes the misogyny and unfair beauty standards set upon women in Hollywood. Fargeat isn’t the only director to pull out of Camerimage; Steve McQueen, director of Blitz, also dropped out, per THR.