Jessica Chastain Tells Cannes That Lack Of Female Storytellers Distorts Women In Film

Actor Jessica Chastain, a jury member at this year's Cannes festival (a group headed by Pedro Almodovar) closed out the 70-year-old film festival that's a must-be-there event for Hollywood power brokers and aspiring super models at a May 28 press conference. 

With a history of candid comments about how Hollywood treats and portrays women, Chastain said that she was disturbed by the way female characters were portrayed in this year's movies. Responding to a reporter's question about the female filmmakers at Cannes 2017, Chastain answered that if there was more "female storytelling," there would be "more authentic female characters."

“This is the first time I’ve watched 20 films in 10 days,” she said. “I love movies. The one thing I really took from this experience is how the world views women, from the female characters that I saw represented. And it was quite disturbing to me, to be honest.” 

The solution is more female storytellers, suggested Chastain, who was joined by fellow jury members Agnes Jaoui, Maren Ade and Fan Bingbing who supported her point of view. 

“When we include more female storytellers, we will have more of the women I recognize in my day-to-day life—ones that are proactive, have their own agencies, don’t just react to the men around them,” she said. “They have their own point of view.”

Jury member Will Smith added "A couple black folks won't hurt either."

This year’s festival did include notable female directors, such as Sofia Coppola, Lynne Ramsay, and the legendary Agnes Varda, writes Vanity Fair. Coppola won best director prize for her southern gothic starring Nicole Kidman 'The Beguiled'. Notably, she was only the second woman to win the best director prize in 70 years.