Jessica Chastain slams representation of women at Cannes films
Jessica Chastain, member of the jury at Cannes Film Festival, said that she was "disturbed" by the way women were represented in the movies she saw.
She said of watching 20 films in 10 days, "The one thing I really took away from this experience is how the world views women, from the female characters I saw represented. It was quite disturbing to me, to be honest."
At a festival where this year Sofia Coppola became the second woman to ever win best director, Chastain said that with a few exceptions she was "surprised by the representation of women onscreen" -- and that they were not like the women she knew in real life who are "proactive, have their own agency, don't just react to the men around them."
She made it clear that she wants to see more female filmmakers and women behind the camera.
"I do believe that if you have female storytelling you also have more authentic female characters," she said.
Director Ava DuVernay praised Chastain on Twitter.
Nicole Kidman said earlier at Cannes that women "have to support female filmmakers -- that's just a given now."
