Cannes Film Festival chiefs sign gender equality charter

CANNES: In a special ceremony on Monday, Cannes Film Festival chiefs made a pledge for gender parity and inclusion.

Cannes delegate general Thierry Fremaux, Directors' Fortnight artistic director Edouard Waintrop and Critics' Week chief Charles Tesson were the first signatories of a new charter aimed at improving gender parity at international film festivals, reported Deadline.

The signing was held in the presence of this year's jury including President Cate Blanchett and members Kristen Stewart, Ava Duvernay and Lea Seydoux.

Initiated by 5050 X 2020 organisation, which also spearheaded 82 women red carpet protest over the weekend, the charter is officially entitled the Programming Pledge for Parity and Inclusion in Cinema Festivals. 5050 X 2020 organisation's aim is to roll out the pledge to other festivals around the world in the coming months.

Its key commitments include the compilation of statistics to record the gender of the filmmakers and key crew of all submissions; a promise to improve transparency around selection processes by publicly listing the members of its selection and programming committees, and to work towards parity on their executive boards.

The organisation has also invited all film, TV and animation festivals to commit to the charter and organize their own signatures.