BY VALERIE COMPLEX THE FRENCH NEVER WAVE

After the controversial 2020 César

Iprogrammed movies from an unprecedented number of women and people of color, more than in any other year. Director Julia Ducournau won the Palme d’or for her lm Titane, becoming only the second woman to do so. This win gave people hope that maybe change was coming from the white, male-dominated festival. But with the initial reveal of the Cannes lineup last month, it appeared things had gone back to the way they usually were, with women and POC content largely shut out. Subsequent additions to the slate included ve lms directed or co-directed by women in Competition for the rst time. But is it enough? Change is happening slowly, but the years of exclusion have proven harmful to many lmmakers who exist on the margins, and few established voices seemed willing to speak up. That is until a new wave of women decided to confront the issue head on.

The di culty in calling attention to the issues of underrepresentation lies, in part, within French law. The Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (the French data protection agency) banned the gathering of personal data and statistics that show the breakdown of racial and ethnic origins, health status, sexual orientation and religion. Since the numbers don’t exist, there is no documented evidence that addresses where the French lm and television industry is lacking. But just because the numbers aren’t there does not mean the issue is going unnoticed, and the voices calling for change are getting louder. Joining Deadline’s class of Disruptors this year, directors Céline Sciamma and Amandine Gay, and actresses Aïssa Maïga, Adèle Haenel and Nadège Beausson-diagne represent the vanguard of the ght, using their words, content and activism to challenge the status quo and question the outdated views of a white, male-dominated industry. Here’s how they’ve done it.