With help from the French government, the Cannes Film Festival is planning to launch a hotline that victims can call to report incidents of sexual assault or harassment at the event this year, following allegations that producer Harvey Weinstein had assaulted multiple women during the prestigious festival in the past.
At a press conference in Paris Friday, Marlène Schiappa, France’s gender equality minister, said those attending the festival would be warned to mind their behavior when they arrive at the French Riviera for the 2018 festival, which kicks off May 8, according to Agence France-Presse,
“We’ve gone into partnership with the Cannes Film Festival to tackle sexual harassment and set up a helpline,” Schiappa said at the event. “One of the rapes that Harvey Weinstein is accused of happened at Cannes, and so the festival cannot fail to act.”
Actresses including Alice Evans, Annabella Sciorra, Judith Godrèche, and Zoë Brock have all come forward with stories of unwanted advances Weinstein allegedly made toward them at hotels during the multiday film festival. Actress Asia Argento told The New Yorker that in the French Riviera in 1997, Weinstein forcibly performed an oral sex act on her. Weinstein has denied all nonconsensual sexual activity.
Cannes has spoken out against Weinstein in the past. After accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse were reported in The New Yorker and The New York Times, festival director Thierry Frémaux and president Pierre Lescure released a statement, condemning his actions.
“These acts are part of an unpardonable behavior that can only give rise to a clear and unqualified condemnation,” the statement read. “Our thoughts go to the victims, to those women who have had the courage to testify and to all the others. May this case help to denounce once again serious and unacceptable practices.”
People have criticized Cannes for other issues of gender inequality and representation over the years. Although Cate Blanchett was chosen to be this year’s jury president, The Guardian points out that few women directors actually make it into the annual festival selections (only three women will compete for the top festival prize, the Palme d’Or, this year). The upcoming competition also marks a return for Lars von Trier, the Danish director whose production company was accused of sexual harassment and who had been banned from the festival for seven years after making anti-Semitic remarks.