The St Kilda Film Festival has been accused of being “tone deaf” after announcing a male-dominated list of award nominees, while questions have been asked about a possible conflict of interest, with one of the three judges playing a role in a leading nominee.

The short film festival, which has been running for 35 years, released its nominees on Wednesday, and not everyone was impressed.

Mrs McCutcheon, which is up for five awards at the 2018 St Kilda Film Festival.

Photo: Supplied

Only 11 women feature among the 48 nominees. And in the big-ticket categories – best film, best screenplay and best director – no women feature at all.

“Its really disappointing,” said Alice Foulcher, a writer and actor who has had films at the festival in the past (but not this year). “I love St Kilda Film Festival but I think it can do better and it needs to do better.”

Foulcher, whose feature Thats Not Me (directed by husband Gregory Erdstein) debuted at last years Melbourne International Film Festival, insisted the lack of female nominees was not due to a lack of quality.

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“I was on the jury for [short film festival] Flickerfest earlier this year and Ive seen a good chunk of the films, and theres definitely several by women that could easily have been recognised,” she said.

Filmmakers Alice Foulcher and Gregory Erdstein.

Photo: Chris Hopkins

That sentiment was echoed by Corrie Chen, director of TV series Homecoming Queens, who suggested the festival had failed to “read the room”.

“These nominations come right after Cannes, where the industry felt this quake off the back of #MeToo, so to have only white male directors nominated is very tone deaf,” she said.

The festival program includes 100 short films. A panel of three watched them all over a number of weeks before dedicating a day to rewatching those they felt were contenders for prizes. Those same three will ultimately decide the winners in each of the 16 categories.

The judges are actors Cassandra Magrath and Neil Pigot and actor-producer Edwina Exton.

Pigot appears in Mrs McCutcheon, which is nominated for five awards, including best film, best director and best screenplay. Magrath appears in Liz Drives, which was not nominated.

Chen conceded the gender split of the panel made “unconscious bias” less likely as a factor in the choices, but she had concerns about a possible conflict of interest.

“I think generally with St Kilda Film Festival there needs to be more transparency in how the nominations and judging takes place,” she said.

But festival director Paul Harris defended the nominations and insisted that even if he disagreed with them, there was nothing he could do.

“They work totally independently, I dont try to sway them, and they were all in agreement on those films,” he said.

Paul Harris, director of the St Kilda Film Festival.

Photo: Chris Hopkins

Adele Denison, producer of the festival for the City of Port Phillip, acknowledged there was always going to be a risk that some people might perceive conflicts of interest, because the industry is small and there was a high chance a juror will have worked on a film or be close to someone who has.

To deal with that, jurors sign an agreement that includes a conflict-of-interest clause.

“Paul [Harris] and I were present at the judging this year, and every time that happened the person involved identified the conflict and excused themselves,” she said.

And that included both Neil Pigot and Cassandra Magrath?

“Yes. Were 100 per cent comfortable with the process and the outcome.”

But Alice Foulcher said: “Whether its oversight or unconscious bias is irrelevant – theres opportunity for dialogue and debate once theyve arrived at their nominations, and in the current climate the gender split should be an important factor. Im not saying it should be 50:50 but it shouldnt be so heavily male.”

And if the jury doesnt agree?

“I think the festival director can and should step in to make sure the selection is a reflection of the quality and diversity of the festival.”

Karl Quinn

Karl has been a journalist at Fairfax Media since 1999, in a variety of writing and editing roles. Karl writes about popular culture with a particular focus on film and television.

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