Maggie Gyllenhaal made a bold fashion statement in a dramatic black taffeta gown as she walked the red carpet for the premiere of A Place To Heal at the Venice Film Festival on Friday.
The 48-year-old actress, who is serving as the festival's jury president this year, struck a pose in a one-shouldered custom Celine gown featuring a voluminous skirt and a short train.
She boosted her height with pointed black court heels as she sashayed across the carpet, accessorising the look with a small gold clutch and dark sunglasses, both of which she set aside to pose for photographers.
Gyllenhaal was all smiles as she supported the French drama, directed by Cedric Kahn, which explores the realities of troubled teenagers inside an adolescent psychiatric ward.
Comments on female directors
Her red carpet appearance came days after she called out the lack of female directors in this year's competition lineup, speaking at a press conference on the opening day of the 83rd festival.
She asked whether it was possible that the things women, having had a different experience of being alive in the world, want to make movies about are not always deemed high art, questioning who decides what is good. She added that it was a systemic problem.
On the power of cinema
Earlier in the week, Gyllenhaal, known for her role in Donnie Darko and for directing The Lost Daughter, shared her thoughts on what draws her to film.
She said that when she goes to the movies, she is not interested in perfection, however seductive it may be, and that her favorite films are ones where a filmmaker invites her into their mind and the minds of their collaborators and lets her look around.
She said she is interested in having an interaction with something human, even if that human has a very different experience or point of view than her own, and that she does not believe art can only be made about certain things by certain people.
She said she wants to be rocked and shaken up, and to have her mind changed. She added that telling stories about even the most perverse, corrupt characters allows people to find empathy for the corruption and perversity around them, and even, most frightening of all, inside themselves.
Festival lineup and jury
The Venice Film Festival's red carpet events began on Wednesday with the premiere of British director Danny Boyle's Ink, a drama about the rise of media magnate Rupert Murdoch. The festival closes on September 12 with the Italian costume drama Dio Ride (God Laughs), written and directed by Giovanni Veronesi.
Gyllenhaal will chair the jury for the main competition. She is joined by Tunisian director and screenwriter Kaouther Ben Hania, English composer Daniel Blumberg, Italian film critic Francesco Casetti, French director Xavier Giannoli, Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat and Hong Kong director Johnnie To.
Other stars expected
Stars expected to attend this year's festival include Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, sisters Rooney and Kate Mara, Robert Pattinson, Penelope Cruz and her husband Javier Bardem, Pamela Anderson, Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich, French actor Louis Garrel, South Korean actress Cho Yeo-jeong, and American actress Ellen Burstyn, who is also accepting a lifetime achievement award.
The Gallagher brothers will attend to promote their documentary Oasis: Don't Look Back In Anger, which follows the band's 2025 reunion tour.
