16 emerging filmmakers are headed to Cannes Film Festival — but only a quarter of them are women.
L’Atelier de la Cinéfondation will host the directors at the 2016 edition of the prestigious fest for events taking place from May 13–19 (the festival runs May 11–22).
The four female helmers to receive invites are Mouly Surya (Indonesia) for “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts,” Kyoko Miyake (Japan) for “Femme Fatale,” Pooja Gurung (Nepal) for “The Whole-Timers” and Gaya Jiji (Syria) for “My Favorite Fabric.”
L’Atelier will facilitate networking opportunities between the budding talent and international producers. The goal is to ensure the completion of the directors’ films and to form connections that will help secure their projects’ futures following their festival debuts.
2016 marks the program’s 12th year. Of the 171 projects to participate, 126 have been theatrically released and 18 are in pre-production.
So the initiative has been very successful. It’s deeply unfortunate that relatively so few women were invited to participate. Remember the dismal track record Cannes has with female filmmakers? As Palme d’Or winner Jane Campion stated, “Time and time again [women] don’t get our share of representation. Excuse me gentlemen, but the guys seem to eat all the cake.”
[via Indiewire]
