The 2018 Venice Film Festival kicks off in just over a month, and will feature 21 films that have been hand-selected by director Alberto Barbera.

Of those selected, just one was helmed by a female: The Nightingale, a feature film by Australian director Jennifer Kent.

Despite the good news for the Australian film industry, the festival has come under fire for its lack of female representation.

It faced the same criticisms last year when it had an identical male-to-female ratio, but Barbera has again defended the selection, saying, "it's out of our hands".