Cannes head Thierry Frémaux: Oscars are more sexist than Cannes
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Version 0 of 1. Cannes film festival head Thierry Frémaux has responded to allegations of sexism by saying that the Oscars and other festivals should be attacked with the same vigour. Related: Can’t do heels? Don’t do Cannes | Hadley Freeman At a Women in Motion talk this morning, Frémaux said that he was angry about the debate over women, not only from the “heelgate” scandal but to the selection of female directors. But he believes that Cannes is being unfairly targeted and in response to any allegations of misogyny, he said people should “attack the Oscars” and the same level of scrutiny is not given to the Berlin and Venice festivals. “The debate always takes place around May,” he said. “Why not talk about this issue in November?” Earlier this week, the festival was hit with controversy after a group of women, including an amputee, claimed to have been turned away from premieres for wearing flat shoes. When asked, Frémaux said it was “the result of one security guard’s excess of zeal.” The scandal has been the main talk of the festival, with star Emily Blunt finding it “very disappointing” and Amy director Asif Kapadia tweeting to say his wife also had trouble wearing flat shoes. Related: Sole mates: women tweet flat shoes images after Cannes' 'heels only rule' This year’s festival has included a wider variety of female directors, including opening film Standing Tall’s Emmanuelle Bercot, but Frémaux talked about their distaste of being spoken about as representative of their gender. It’s a point that was also brought up by Bercot at the start of the festival. “It’s the selection of the film that’s an honor,” she said. “I don’t feel I’ve been given a gift because such a prestigious slot went to a woman.” Despite the improvements in gender equality with regards to directors, Frémaux did concede that there are still changes to be made behind the scenes. “When I first got to Cannes there were more women in the selection committee,” he said, to the small crowd, “Cannes is but a mirror.” |