by Nathaniel R
82 women walked the red carpet today at Cannes protesting the lack of female filmmakers represented at the festival over the years. The number 82 is the number of films directed by women that have been in the main competition lineup since Cannes began 71 years ago (3 of which are this year). All the famous talented women from this year's jury led by Cate Blanchett were there along with the Godmother of the French New Wave, recent Honorary Oscar recipient AND nominee Agnes Varda. Blanchett and Varda gave the speech in English and French which went like so:
Women are not a minority in the world, yet the current state of the industry states otherwise. As women we face our own unique challenges, yet we stand together on these steps today as a symbol of determination and a commitment to progress, we are writers, producers, actors, cinematographers, talent agents, distributors, and sales agents. All of us are involved in the cinematic arts. We stand today in solidarity with women of all industries.
We expect our organizations to actively provide parity and transparency and a safe environment in which to work. We expect our governments to make sure that the laws of equal pay for equal work are upheld. We demand that our workplaces are diverse and equitable, so they can best reflect the work in which we actually live, a world that allows all of us to in front and behind the camera, to thrive shoulder to shoulder with our male colleagues. And we acknowledge all of the women and men around the world who are standing for change.
The stairs of our industry must be accessible to all. Let’s climb!”
How they decided which women would be included in this 82 we do not know but other famous faces represented were actresses Jane Fonda, Salma Hayek, Marion Cotillard, Sofia Boutella, Claudai Cardinale and directors Alice Rohrwacher and Patty Jenkins. You can see the full list at Vanity Fair.
Only one female director has won the festival's top prize the Palme d'O: Jane Campion for The Piano in 1993. Sofia Coppola took Director last year for The Beguiled (2017) so it'll be interesting to see if any of the three films directed by women in the official lineup this year manages any prize at festival's end. Those three films are:
Capernaum by Nadine Labaki (Lebanon)
Girls of the Sun by Eva Husson (France)
Lazarro Felice by Alice Rohrwacher (Italy)
We won't know until the day of the awards because the awards ceremony nearly always holds surprises. You don't even need good reviews to be in the running since juries often have contrarian streaks or, at the very least, don't always line up with the reviews being fired off all week by journalists.