May 8, 2018
Actress Cate Blanchett, jury president for the 71st Cannes
Film Festival here, touched upon the conversation about women in Hollywood,
saying it will take some time for change to ensue.
"For profound lasting
change to occur, it needs to take place through specific actions," Blanchett
said at a press conference here on Tuesday, reported variety.com.
"It's
addressing the gender gap and the racial diversity and the equality and the way
we make our work. Of course that's going on in our industry. But you know, is it
going to have a direct impact on the film in competition this year, six nine
months on? 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
added.
Blanchett said she would "absolutely" want to see more women in
competition at the annual gala.
"Do I think it will happen more in the
future? I hope so," she added.
The other members of the jury include
Kristen Stewart and Ava DuVernay, Denis Villeneuve, French actress Lea Seydoux,
Taiwanese actor Chang Chen, Burundian singer Khadja Nin, French writer Robert
Guediguian and Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev.
The film festival
will kick off on Tuesday night with the premiere of Asghar Farhadi's "Everybody
Knows," starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. It will conclude on May 19.