FILM
Cannes film festival: female stars protest over heels and rules
Natalie Portman spoke at a press conference about the expectations put upon women at the festival, while Cate Blanchett went barefoot in solidarity with women in Iran
It is a topic of discussion every year at Cannes. But the place of women on the red carpet, and in film generally, has been under a bigger spotlight this year in a festival marked both by a record number of films by female directors and by the return of Johnny Depp.
Cate Blanchett kicked off her stilettos in an act of rebellion as she took to the stage at a party hosted by Variety magazine and the Golden Globes. Shoes have long been a political symbol at Cannes, which has an unspoken rule that women wear high heels on the red carpet. In 2018 Kristen Stewart ditched her Christian Louboutins and climbed up the red steps barefoot, emulating Julia Roberts and Sasha Lane two
