A woman stepped out on the Cannes red carpet, on Friday, and stripped off in front of a swarm of photographers to reveal her body painted in colours of the Ukrainian flag. The words “Stop Raping Us” were written in paint as she screamed during her protest against sexual violence.
The demonstrater disrupted the red carpet parade of guests including Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, among others at the premiere of Three Thousand Years of Longing.
The woman’s underpants as well as a part of her legs were stained red and was later escorted by security guards who covered her with a black cloth during her solo protest on the red carpet and quickly gathered around her to get her off the scene. She also had the word “scum” written on her lower back.
Soon after the commotion, the radical feminist group ‘Scum’ posted a video of the incident on Twitter and wrote, “This activist exposed the #war rapes and sexual torture committed on #Ukrainian women by #Russian soldiers.” The clip has now gone viral.
The incident happened in front of the Palais for the premiere of Three Thousand Years of Longing, Miller’s first directorial project since dazzling the film industry with Mad Max: Fury Road.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that investigators had received reports of “hundreds of cases of rape” in areas previously occupied by Russian troops, including sexual assaults of small children. Zelensky had uploaded a video, appealing for aid for his country at the Cannes opening ceremony on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian war has already been a major theme at the festival as Mariupolis 2, a documentary by Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedaravicius, who was killed in Ukraine last month – reportedly by Russian forces, was screened on Thursday.
Beleaguered Ukrainian filmmakers are getting a special day at the industry marketplace at the festival. One of the most promising directors Sergei Loznitsa will show The Natural History of Destruction, about the bombing of German cities in World War II.
