The 2018 Cannes Film Festival has seen another powerful women-led protest. Per AFP, 16 black and mixed-race actresses took to the red carpet Wednesday to stand up to to racism in the French film industry. Aïssa Maïga, the first black woman to be nominated for a César Award, led the demonstration.
“I was moved to act by the spirit of the times,” Maïga said. The “Bamako” star added that quotas for people of color in onscreen roles “could be a possible option.”
In an act of solidarity, Maïga and her fellow demonstrators donned gowns by Olivier Rousteing, a mixed-raced designer from Balmain. They also used the opportunity to launch their book, “Noire n’est pas mon metier” (“Being Black Is Not My Job”), in which they reveal the discrimination they’ve endured from directors and casting agents.
“Welcome to the Sticks” actress Nadege Beausson-Diagne wrote about being asked if she spoke “African” at a casting meeting. She was also told she couldn’t play a lawyer because she’s black. Beausson-Diagne also received comments such as “luckily you have fine features and you are not negroid, not too black,” “[you’re] not African enough to be African,” and “for a black, you are really very intelligent. You should have been white.”
Joining Maïga and Beausson-Diagne in the protest were Mata Gabin, Maïmouna Gueye, Eye Haïdara, Rachel Khan, Sara Martins, Marie-Philomène Nga, Sabine Pakora, Firmine Richard, Sonia Rolland, Magaajyia Silberfeld, Shirley Souagnon, Assa Sylla, Karidja Touré, and France Zobda.
On Thursday the women hosted a forum and shared their experiences of racism in the industry. They also spoke about the optimism their demonstration has inspired. Maïga told Variety she and the fellow participants displayed a “strength that we were given from our parents, and the generations before them … that we can pass down to our children.”
Maïga believes that Cannes can lead the way for change in French entertainment, and urged the fest to spotlight and invest in diverse films. Cannes’ example can help ensure “that we start to see the real France on the screen,” Maïga emphasized. “For me, the most important thing is that this collective of 16 women will become a movement.”
Earlier in the fest 82 women — including Cate Blanchett, Agnès Varda, and Women and Hollywood’s Melissa Silverstein — walked the steps of the Palais de Festival to denounce Cannes’ history of shutting out female directors.
Cannes 2018 will wrap up with its Closing Ceremony tomorrow, May 19.
