The Cannes Film Festival went without female directors

One of the most prestigious film festivals in the world has started in Cannes. The press conference of the jury on the occasion of the opening of the 65th festival was attended by its chairman, Italian director Nanni Moretti, as well as directors Andrea Arnold, Alexander Payne, Raoul Peck, actresses Diane Kruger, Hiam Abbas, Emmanuelle Devos, actor Ewan McGregor and couturier Jean- Paul Gautier.

The opening ceremony was hosted by Berenice Bejo, star of the film "The Artist". The actress, who appeared before the audience in a red dress matching the color of the festival carpet, greeted the jury members and made a short speech. After this, a short film about the work of Nanno Moretti was shown, and the director himself said a few words of gratitude in French.



At the same time, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen rode onto the Croisette on a camel, with a bushy beard and an Arabic robe. Directly from the camel, he addressed passers-by, urging them to watch his new film “The Dictator.”

The festival opened with Wes Anderson's film Moonrise Kingdom. The film, which tells about the adventures of two teenagers, takes place at a scout camp in America in the 60s. The film stars Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray and Bruce Willis.

Competitive screenings will last until May 27. Its competition program includes 22 films, including new works by cinema masters Alain Resnais, Michal Haneke and David Cronenberg, Ken Loach and Abbas Kiarostami. The Romanian Cristian Mungiu, the author of the film “Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days,” and Jacques Audiard, winner of the 2009 Cannes Grand Prix for the film “The Prophet,” will present their new works to the jury. Russia will be represented by director Sergei Loznitsa with the film “In the Fog”.

It is noteworthy that among the directors of the competition program of the 65th festival there is not a single woman. The jury rejected the charge of gender discrimination. According to Diane Kruger, there are several female directors participating in the parallel programs, and “last year there were four women in competition.”