President of the jury for the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival, Cate Blanchett has said in a statement that progress for women in Hollywood will not occur overnight due to the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements.
“For profound changes to occur, it needs to take place through specific actions,” she stated at a press conference on Tuesday. “It’s addressing the gender gap and the racial diversity and the equality and the way we make our work.”
Blanchett further explained that the gender discriminatory practices were even rampant in Cannes which had faced criticism for selecting only three female directors for the competition and said that the conversations in Hollywood did not have that great of an impact.
“Is it going to have a direct impact on the film in competition this year, six months on?” she probed. “Not specifically. There are several women in competition. They are not there because of their gender. They are there because of the quality of their work. We will assess them as filmmakers, as we should be.”
She also added that even just a few years ago, the festival had only selected two female directors, “Would I like to see more women in competition? Absolutely.” Blanchett stated that was her hope for the future of women in cinema.
