At the Cannes Film Festival, 82 female directors, actresses and industry professionals stood together at Eva Husson’s ‘Girls of the Sun’ premiere. Why specifically 82 women? Because in the 7 decades of films being showcased at the Cannes Film Festival, only 82 female directed films have been shown in the competition. The Palme d’or, the most prestigious award a director can win, has been given to 71 male directors but only 2 female directors. One of those female directors, Agnes Varda, was part of the 82 women demonstration for more gender transparency for film directors.
Female leads and female-focused movies are important in closing the gender gap in media. However, there needs to be more focus on efforts behind the scenes and female representation in directing roles. The hope is that more female directors will lead to more female roles and more equity in pay. It’s not a given, but usually women are conscious of the inequality they face and stand together to fix it, as they are doing now at the Cannes Film Festival.
There is still a long way to go for the Cannes Film Festival but there seems to be a ground swell due to the #MeToo movement. Below is a list of women directors with films that are being shown at the festival. Names of directors and films come directly from the Cannes Film Festival website itself.
Competition
Nadine Labaki | Capharnaum
Alice Rohrwacher | Lazzaro Felice (Happy as Lazzaro)
Eva Husson | Les Filles du Soleil (Girls of the Sun)
Un Certain Regard
Renee Nader Messora | Chuva e Cantoria Na Aldeia Dos Mortos (The Dead and The Others)
Valeria Golino | Euforia
Vanessa Filho | Gueule d’ange (Angel Face)
Andréa Bescond | Les Chatouilles (Little Tickles)
Nandita Bas | Manto
Gaya Jiji | Mon Tissu Prefere (My Favorite Tissue)
Wanuri Kahiu | Rafiki
Meryem Benm’barek | Sofia
Cinefondation
Georgiana Moldoveanu | Albastru Si Rosu, In Proportii Egale (Equally Red and Blue)
Constanza Gatti | Cinco Minutos Afuera (Five Minutes Outside)
Zhannat Alshanova | End of Season
Laura Garcia | Fragment de Drame (A Piece of Tragedy)
Lucia Bulgheroni | Inanimate
Martha Magnuska | Inny (The Other)
Jamie Dack | Palm Trees and Power Lines
Louise Aubertin, Eloise Girard, Marine Meneyrol and Amandine Thomoux | Sailor’s Delight
Short Films
Marta Pajek | III
Celine Held | Caroline
By: Kerasa Tsokas