CANNES, May 8,2018 (News Wires) - The most political Cannes film festival in years opened Tuesday with female stars vowing to protest on the red carpet against industry sexism, two top directors barred from attending and bans hanging over some movies. With Hollywood still reeling from the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and Cannes under fire for its dearth of women directors, jury members Cate Blanchett, Ava DuVernay and Kristen Stewart said they would join other actresses and female filmmakers on Saturday in a protest in support of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements. Blanchett, who heads the jury, did not hide her unhappiness that only three of the 21 directors in the running for the top Palme d'Or prize are women. "There are many women on the jury but I wish there were more in competition," she told French radio Tuesday. The star hammered the message home with her wardrobe, wearing a suit earlier in the day -- like four of the five female jury members -- before donning a long black Giorgio Armani Prive gown for the opening ceremony, which she had already worn to the Golden Globes in 2014 to strike a blow against throwaway consumerism. Cannes' patchy record on female directors, and Saturday's red carpet protest, may generate the most heat in a festival packed with political hot potatoes -- even if the launch of the new "Star Wars" spin-off, "Solo", should lighten the mix.
