The Cannes Film Festival is struggling to meet its promise on the equal representation of women and men, reported AFP.
Last year, Director Julia Ducournau won the Palme D’Or award, and became the second female director to win the prestigious prize in the festival’s history.
This year’s edition is projected to see more women competing in several categories.
The competition in 2022 features 21 films and five female directors compared to four in 2021, hitting a record in the festival’s history. Actress and director Valeria Bruni, 57, is set to screen her film "Les Amendiers" revolving around a theater college that has the same name. Also, Claire Doni, 76, is competing with her movie "Stars at Noon" filmed in central America.
Another French female director, Léonor Serraille will be screening her film "Un Petit Frere" telling the story of an immigrant family from the late 1980s until our days.
Among the contesters is also American director Kelly Richard, 58, a prominent name in the world of independent cinema. Her film, "Showing Up" explores the life of an artist played by Michelle Williams. Belgian director Charlotte Vandermeersch, 38, will join with her film "Les Huit Montagnes", which she co-directed with Felix van Groeninge.
Achieving gender equality in international film festivals is not an easy task. In the Venice Film Festival, only five out of 21 selected movies were directed by females. The Berlin Film Festival had a slightly better performance with seven out of 18 films participating in its latest edition were directed by women. At the Cannes festival in 2021, two female directors, French Audrey Diwan and Spanish Carla Simón won the two biggest awards.
Alongside the official contest, the Cannes Film Festival includes the Critics’ Week that will shed light on young directors, and discuss 11 feature films, five of which are directed by women.
