Thierry Fremaux, the Cannes Film Fest’s powerful artistic director, is still resistant to the idea of including Netlix titles in the Official Competition unless their movies open in theaters and has called for a ban on red-carpet selfies.
That said, he knows that Cannes must strive for equality in the selection process — something he credits actress and Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain with helping him realize.
“We are equalizing the proportion of women staffing the festival and within our selection committees, which is important: last year, Jessica Chastain, who was on the jury, made me understand the importance of the ‘female gaze’ during the selection process,” he explains in an interview with Variety.
Chastain was on the jury last year, and used her platform to call for more films that accurately represent the female experience.
