Cate Blanchett to Preside over 71st Cannes Film Festival

WOMAN’S HOUR: Call it the Harvey Weinstein effect. Two-time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett is to be president of the jury at the 71st edition of the Cannes International Film Festival, making her the 12th woman to fill the role in the festival’s history. Spanish director Pedro Almodovar occupied the seat last year. The festival will be held from May 8 to May 19 – the day of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding – and this year will open on a Tuesday and end on a Saturday. The 48-year-old Australian actress, who has been vocal in her support of the women who have come forward in the Weinstein affair after a series of sexual assault statements were made against the producer, is also one of 300 female Hollywood actors, directors, producers, agents, writers and executives backing the recently launched Time’s Up initiative to help fight sexual harassment in the workplace. Declaring she was “humbled by the privilege and responsibility” of the role, Blanchett in a statement on Thursday shared some of her own achievements as a festival regular. Most recently, in 2015, she attended the event for “Carol” by Todd Haynes, a film that she co-produced with the Weinstein Co. and

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