Three women-directed features are included in the lineup for this year’s Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. Artistic director Edouard Waintrop announced the program of 19 features, chosen from a pool of 1,623 feature-length submissions, at a press conference on Tuesday.

Cannes previously announced an all-male roster for its Critics’ Week program, but on the bright side, a woman-directed film is set to open the festival for the first time in 28 years.

The Directors’ Fortnight was started, and continues to be run, by the French Directors Guild. It is an independent section of the Cannes Film Festival that originated after civil unrest — including strikes and demonstrations — in May 1968 in France led to canceling the festival as a show of support to striking workers.

After a successful premiere at Sundance, Chloe Zhao’s “Songs My Brothers Taught Me,” a portrait of life and the complex relationship between a brother and sister on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, has been selected to be screened in the Directors’ Fortnight program. In an interview with Women and Hollywood, Zhao explained that she was drawn to the story in her directorial debut because she “wanted to understand what Pine Ridge means to its residents and the complex relationship they have with their homes.”

“Mustang,” from Turkish director Deniz Gamze Erguven, tells the story of a 13-year-old girl and her sisters who attempt to challenge and overcome the stifling expectations their family imposes on them in a remote Turkish village.

Chilean director Marcia Tambutti’s “Allende, mi abuelo Allende” is a documentary about her legendary grandfather, Salvador Allende, and the discord between his public and private selves. Allende, a Marxist, was elected as president of Chile but later overthrown via military coup.

[via Variety]