‘Barbaric’ Hollywood rejects older women

The Cannes Film Festival opened yesterday with the film’Lemming’, by French director Dominik Moll.

In a press conference after the film, Charlotte Rampling – the 60-year old british female star of the film – described Hollywood’s attitude to older women as ‘barbaric’, saying “If a woman is prepared to age it can be quite beautiful, and having a wrinkle is not a reason to be put away. In Europe they understand that, thank god”. She says she now prefers to work in France, due to the attitude of Americans towards older women, and the paucity of interesting projects in the British film industry.

This year’s festival is notable for its relative lack of British and female directors.