In 2018, Ava DuVernay, Cate Blanchett, Agnès Varda, Kristen Stewart and over 80 other female filmmakers stood on the steps of the Palais at the Cannes Film Festival to protest gender inequality in the global film industry. That year, only three films in the festival’s prestigious competition section were directed by women. Thierry Frémaux then signed a pledge from Le Collectif 50/50, the French association dedicated to promoting sexual and gender diversity in the film industry. The pledge outlined steps the festival would take to move toward greater inclusion of women in its lineup, including generating gendered statistics for its annual program, while working toward achieving gender equity in its governing bodies and programming committees.  Some eight years later, while gains have been made, this year’s competition section includes five female directors, down from last year’s seven (the record for the most women directors ever in the main competition section). At the 2026 festival’s opening press conference on May 12, Cannes boss Frémaux defensively offered: “Films are chosen for their quality, not the gender of their directors.”  When asked about its efforts …