CANNES.- The actress Judith Godrche, the leading voice of #MeToo in France, and her short film that gives voice to the victim of sexual abuse, the legendary performer Meryl Streep and the young Anya Taylor-Joy, star of Angryare in the center of focus today -May 15-, the first day of competition of the Festival of Cannes.
Me too (Yo tambin)the long-awaited short film by Godrche, who denounced two filmmakers who allegedly abused her in her adolescence for rape, collects the testimony of a thousand victims of sexual abuse.
“It’s a way to put a face to the victims,” said the 52-year-old interpreter. “Cinema has a symbolic, almost divine function. Being the main actress of a film that goes to Cannes gives you a status. Saying that the anonymous people who are in the film will be the main actors of a film in Cannes: it is that status.” the one that interests me,” he told AFP.
The short film will be projected at the opening of the parallel section Un Certain Regard and on a large screen on the beach, accessible to everyone.
French cinema is immersed in a wave of complaints against abuses, in the wake of the #MeToo movement that shook the industry around the world in 2017 after the case of powerful producer Harvey Weinstein.
“International treasure”
Hollywood star Meryl Streep, 74, will be another of the stars of the day and will give a talk in one of the event’s auditoriums, as Javier Bardem and Tom Cruise have done in other editions.
The legendary actress, with 21 Oscar nominations and three statuettes, received an honorary Palme d’Or on the eve for her entire career, which includes such emblematic titles as Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice y Memories of Africa.
“I thank you so much that you haven’t gotten tired of my face,” the interpreter joked before a room that gave her a standing ovation.
The French actress Juliette Binoche could not contain her tears when presenting him with the award.
“If the contributions of the women in history they are still too invisible, yours are not,” she said excitedly. “You are an international treasure. “You changed the way we see women in the world of cinema… you have given us a new image of ourselves,” she added.
Today will also be the day of Angry, a new installment of the saga Mad Maxstarring Anya Taylor-Joy, 28 years old and known for her role in the series Queen’s Gambit.
In this prequel to the franchise created by George Miller, the American actress, who grew up in Argentina and speaks perfect Spanish, plays a warrior who is kidnapped by a band of villains and has to overcome numerous tests to survive.
Weighty female protagonists
The competition for Palma de Oro officially opens with two films featuring strong female protagonists.
Rough diamond, The debut of the French Agathe Riedinger, is about the aspirations of a girl from the south of France to participate in a reality television program. She is the only prima pear in the competition.
The girl with the needle, by Magnus Von Horn, tells the story of a Danish woman who created a clandestine adoption center in Copenhagen after the First World War.
In total, 22 films are competing for the Palme d’Or, four of them directed by women, three less than in the previous edition.
Despite this disproportion, the American actress and director Greta Gerwig, who chairs the contest jury this year, celebrated in general terms the increase in the presence of women in the industry.
“15 years ago, I couldn’t have imagined that there would be so many women represented in the world of cinema,” said the 40-year-old filmmaker, who last year became the first female director of a film. Barbiewhich exceeded $1 billion at the box office.
FUENTE: AFP
