After watching 20 films in 10 days, Jessica Chastain is disappointed and disturbed over how women are portrayed on-screen.
“I really took away from this experience is how the world views women from the female characters that I saw represented,” Chastain, a Cannes Film Festival jury member, shared at the closing press conference. “It was quite disturbing to me, to be honest — there are some exceptions.”
Although this year’s crop of films left her feeling uninspired, the two-time Oscar nominee is hopeful the future will bring change.
“I do hope that when we include more female storytellers we will have a more of the women that I recognize in my day-to-day life. Ones that are proactive, have their own agencies, don’t just react to the men around them, they have their own point of view,” she added.
There were few glimmers of hope at this year’s festival. Sofia Coppola won the best director award for her film “The Beguiled.” The film, which was adapted from a Civil War novel, follows a Union soldier who seeks shelter at an all-girls school in Virginia.
To add to the festival’s failures, fellow juror Will Smith told reporters, “A couple black folks next year wouldn’t hurt.”