The number of female filmmakers selected for Cannes Film Festival’s Competition program dipped this year, with three of the 18 titles unveiled this morning helmed by women. However, because the selection is smaller this time, the percentage remained consistent.
There could yet be one or two late additions, though festival chief Thierry Frémaux suggested at this morning’s presser that those would most likely be in other programs such as Un Certain Regard.
The three Competition films directed by women are: Showing Up by Kelly Reichardt; Stars At Noon by Claire Denis; and Les Amandiers by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. That’s just under 17% of the program, which is in line with 2021.
Last year, four of the 24 movies in Competition were helmed by women, including the eventual Palme d’Or winner: Julia Ducournau’s Titane was joined by Catherine Corsini’s La Fracture; Mia Hansen-Love’s Bergman Island; and Ildiko Enyedi’s The Story Of My Wife. In 2019, it was also four, but out of 21 total titles.
The wider Official Selection revealed this AM features nine titles with female filmmakers, from a total of 49 movies (two of which are co-directed by two women, Les Pires and Beast). Expect a few more additions from Fremaux next week, but the gender balance looks likely to be significantly down on last year, when there were 28 female filmmakers across a bumper 64-strong selection.
The 75th Cannes Film Festival runs May 17-28 this year.
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