WOMEN LEAD CANNES FESTIVAL JURORS
Girls. Who run the world? Girls. 5 out of 9 jurors for this year Cannes Film Festival jury are women. This is one woman more than the four previous years. More importantly, it comes in the wake of the Post-Weinstein movie industry era. In its 71st year, Cate Blanchett is just the 12th woman to lead the festival jury.
Blanchett along with star studded jurors Ava DuVernay, Kristen Stewart, Lea SeyDoux, and singer Khadja Nin will lead the festival in deciding the Palme d’Or prize, which is the festival’s top award.
In the year of #MeToo and Time’s Up, there is still a lot more work to do. Out of the 18 films in competition, only three are directed by women. Eva Husson is making her Cannes debut this year along with directors Alice Rohrwacher and Nadine Labaki.
Cannes versus Netflix
There is a lot of buzz surrounding this year’s festival especially with the battle between Cannes and Netflix. The beef may be in part to culture and how the french ultimately view cinema. Going to see a movie on the big screen is an art and a pastime; however, with the likes of Netflix, that movie experience can take place on a couch or a smartphone. Due to Netflix and the films not playing on the big screen in France, their movies are not eligible for the competition, so they pulled out altogether.
According to the Atlantic, “films aren’t allowed to appear on streaming platforms for three years after screening in cinemas.” With Netflix and many other streaming services like Hulu, Amazon Prime, and the upcoming Disneyflix catering towards directors, screenwriters, and actors that are women and people of color, limiting their films unfit for competitions such as Cannes can be debilitating and harmful to the success of many different potential careers.
Post-Weinstein?
Interesting enough, Cannes will be featuring Harvey Weinstein this year. The documentary on the Weinstein scandal is set for international theatrical release and will be shown at the festival. In a year that has been about uplifting women’s voices and experiences, gender equality, equal pay, and general human treatment of women, there is still much more work to do.
NYC Women Filmmakers to Know
This year’s festival takes place from May 8th through May 19th. For more information, you can visit the Cannes Festival website. For more information on Women film directors right here in NYC, check out Rachelle Eason’s 10 NYC Based Women Directors You Should Know.
Want to support women filmmakers right here in NY? Check out the great work by Cidney Hue and her NYC Women’s Filmmaker meetup. How else are women changing the world? Can women continue to thrive and be a force in the entertainment industry? What can you do to help others be better and live better?
