It was a red carpet revolution on the Riviera.
Hollywood star Cate Blanchett, president of the Cannes Film Festival jury, led dozens of women who work in the movie industry up the stairs of the iconic Palais des Festivals theater Saturday to promote equality for women in film in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
“As women, we all face our own unique challenges, but we stand together on these stairs today as a symbol of our determination and commitment to progress,” the Oscar winner said.
“We will demand that our workplaces are diverse and equitable so that they can best reflect the world in which we actually live — a world that allows all of us behind and in front of the camera to thrive shoulder to shoulder with our male colleagues,” she continued. “We acknowledge all of the women and men who are standing for change. The stairs of our industry must be accessible to all. Let’s climb.”
The demonstration, organized by a French women’s group, assembled major Hollywood stars,including Salma Hayek, Kristen Stewart, Jane Fonda and Marion Cotillard, directors and industry executives. Many linked arms as they marched up the red carpet to address gender parity and the many abuse allegations against disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
In all, 82 women were involved in the demonstration — representing the total number of films by women that have been in competition at the festival since it was founded in 1946. In the same period, 1,866 “male directors have climbed these very same stairs,” Blanchett told the crowd.
Members of 5050×2020, the group that organized the protest, said on their Web site they hope yesterday’s action will lead to a greater awareness of the role of women in film.
The protest came just before the gala premiere of “Girls of the Sun,” one of only three films in competition directed by a woman at this year’s festival. The film, by Eva Husson, tells the story of a group of female Kurdish fighters.
Moviegoers cheered the women as they headed into the Palais Theater while a DJ blasted Whitney Houston’s “I’m Every Woman.”
Festival organizers, long criticized for not including enough films by women over the years, have organized women’s empowerment conferences next week when Cannes festival director Thierry Femaux is expected to make an announcement about changes to the festival’s programming in the #MeToo era.