10 Cannes Film Festival Protests (That Had Nothing To Do With Shoes)
10. When Everyone Protested About The Lack Of Female Representation At The Awards
Back in 2012 there were 22 films vying for the golden palm, but not one of them was directed by a woman. To make the insult worse, a considerable number of that years entries featured women prominently, but not one of them had the driving seat. The glaring lack prompted director Andrea Arnold to take the industry to task in an impassioned speech during the opening of the festival. The battle-cry was immediately picked up by Beyond Borders, a diversity symposium that placed the blame for the omission squarely on the selection process. Cries of indignation then swamped Twitter and the international media. But not everyone was on board the gender train. A Change.org petition fell short of the 3K signature mark, while actress Jessica Chastain termed the protests silly, leading Andrea Arnold to clarify that the earlier protest should not be interpreted as a call for positive discrimination.
