The Cannes Film Festival revealed its 2017 poster yesterday, and people were none too happy with it.
Twitter was quick to point out that the festival's official poster featured a heavily photoshopped image of Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, as Elle U.K. notes.
For those who weren't sure whether or not Cardinale's image had been retouched, one Twitter user shared a GIF of the original 1959 photo morphing into the Cannes poster. As it clearly shows, Cardinale's waist has been taken in and a part of her thigh has been shaved.
"Why the need to alter Claudia Cardinale's body so dramatically for #Cannes2017 official poster?" filmmaker Anna Rose Holmer tweeted.
Others shared their disappointment in the poster, which celebrates the 70th anniversary of the festival. "Appalled that #Cannes2017 felt the need to 'slim' this 1959 photograph of the magnificent Claudia Cardinale," one person wrote. "Both insulting & unnecessary."
Alongside the original photo, someone tweeted the message: "The real #ClaudiaCardinale in all her Mediterranean glory. No retouching." While someone else wrote, "Her body is perfect why the fuck would anybody photoshop that!"
Another just had some words of advice for one specific person who works for the film festival: "Do better, person in charge of making Cannes posters."
The festival's director Thierry Frémaux told AFP that the poster had been “very well received.” He would follow that up by retweeting a message that stated, “What is this ridiculous controversy over the Cannes poster? All photos that are used for posters are retouched in one way or another.”
Cardinale, who starred in Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, also released a statement to the AFP stating she didn't see all the fuss. "[This] image has been retouched to accentuate this effect of lightness and transpose me into a dream character," she said. "This concern for realism has no place here, and as a committed feminist, I see no affront to the female body. There are many more important things to discuss in our world. It's only cinema."
This is not the first time Cannes has been called out. In 2012, the festival was criticized for not having enough women directors, and three years later it was called out for forcing women to wear heels. Frémaux would apologize for the latter, letting everyone know Cannes does not have a footwear policy. “There is a rumor that the festival obliges women to wear heels," he said. "It’s a rumor, it is not true.”
The Cannes Film Festival begins May 17.
The Wrap
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