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One would expect Nicole Kidman to be quite used to being honored, considering she has an Academy Award, five Golden Globes, a BAFTA, two Emmys, the Cannes Film Festival‘s 70th anniversary prize and the Venice Film Festival’s best actress award among those lining her trophy case. But the legendary actor was still moved by the gesture of being named the Kering Women in Motion awardee on Sunday night at the luxury fashion house’s 10th annual gala during the Cannes Film Festival.
“I’m so happy to be here supporting women’s voices in cinema,” Kidman said as she floated down the press line outside of the glamorous dinner held at the Place de la Castre, overlooking the Croisette. “I’m an advocate and want to continue moving forward with my pledge. It ain’t over.”
Following a clip reel of her greatest performances, including “Moulin Rouge,” “Far and Away” (her first film to debut in Cannes) and “The Hours,” Kidman took the stage to a standing ovation from the A-list assembly, including Isabelle Huppert, Julianne Moore, Sean Penn, Charli XCX, Dakota Johnson, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Paul Mescal, Juliette Binoche, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Guillermo del Toro.
Longtime festival delegate Thierry Frémaux, who presented the award alongside festival president Iris Knobloch and Kering chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault, declared Kidman a “Cannes legend” — and she continues to add to that mythology each time she returns to the festival. Case in point, in 2017, Kidman used the festival spotlight to make a declaration: she planned to work with a female director every 18 months.
“I had been having a conversation with Meryl Streep, where we talked about how we have to actually do the work — which is be in films directed by women,” Kidman said during the glamorous dinner held at the Place de la Castre overlooking the Croisette. “Because you can talk about it, and you can say you support it, but you actually have to do it.”
In the eight years since, Kidman has managed to work with a woman behind the camera 27 times between film and TV projects. “There’s so many extraordinary women out there, and, once you go looking and searching there, they are just waiting to be found,” Kidman said. “So I continue that pledge today, but I continue it not with just female directors. I continue it with female writers, female cinematographers, female crew members.”
Kidman, who executive produces and stars in Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers” and was last seen on the big screen in Halina Reijn’s “Babygirl,” also advocated for stronger representation on screen.
“We need to give women better roles, particularly as they get older. We are here, and we can prove to you that we will make money for you,” Kidman added. [To note: “Babygirl” was a box office success, grossing $64.5 million worldwide.] “Invest in us and believe in us, because our voices are so important. We will help change the world, but we will also give you a glimpse of our hearts and our souls and what it means to be a woman. If you just give us the chance, we are so ready.”
Kidman’s honor marks a milestone for Kering’s Women in Motion program, which the luxury fashion house launched in 2015 to spotlight the creativity and contributions made by women, both on and off screen, in the world of culture and the arts. In accepting the award, Kidman joins a luminous lineup of past honorees: NBCUniversal entertainment & studios chairman Donna Langley, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, Patty Jenkins, Gong Li, Salma Hayek Pinault, Viola Davis, Michelle Yeoh, Jane Fonda and Huppert.
Hayek Pinault was elated to add Kidman to this elite sorority. “Her talent and her endurance and her movie stardom have positioned women in a different way; whereas before, it was men and very few women who’d get to that level of movie stardom, so she has opened the way for many of us,” Hayek Pinault told Variety. “She’s always been very conscientious about women’s causes — not just recently — and, of course, her pledge of working with and supporting female directors personalizes everything that we stand for.”
“The Substance” director Coralie Fargeat also weighed in Kidman’s impact. “She has a way that is unique in the industry. She commits to very risky projects. She doesn’t repeat herself. She explores new territories, and she stands for women,” Fargeat said about Kidman’s pledge. “Those are the type of actions that matter, because we are all responsible for the real, deep change, and that goes through action. Nicole does that, so I’m a huge admirer.”
Likewise, Tessa Thompson has been inspired by Kidman. “She’s really one of those women that walks the walk and talks the talk, in terms of [recognizing that] the first thing that we need to do to empower more women is just to work with them early stage in their career,” Thompson said, reflecting on her longterm collaboration with Nia DaCosta beginning with the director’s first film, 2018’s “Little Woods.” “It’s the thing you have to do. The impediment to getting in the door is having someone to open the door for you, so I’m so proud of Nicole for continuing to do that. But, goodness, I’m just such a big fan of hers.”
Brazilian director Marianna Brennand was also honored at the dinner with Kering’s emerging talent prize, which includes a €50,000 ($57,000 USD) grant towards the laureate’s second feature. Brennand’s debut feature “Manas” addresses sexual violence and incest in the Amazon. Because “manas” is a word for “sisters” in Portuguese, Brennand focused her acceptance speech on the sisterhood between the women and children she met while researching her film, plus the one she entered as a “Women in Motion” with Kidman.
“What she’s done for us in the film industry is really special and powerful,” Brennand told Variety, sharing what she told Kidman upon meeting her a few hours prior at the Oscar winner’s Kering Women in Motion talk. “It was one of the greatest moments of my life, and she was so sweet and so caring. She held my hand. She told me, ‘You deserve it. Congratulations.’ She’s beyond words.”
Scroll for a look inside the black-tie soirée, with a guest list that also included Vicky Krieps, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Julia Ducournau, Julia Garner, Charlotte Le Bon, Jameela Jamil, Carla Bruni, Zhang Linghe, Elodie Bouchez, Chie Hayakawa, Pierre Niney, Costa-Gavras, Amélie Bonnin, Virginie Efira and Camélia Jordana — and ended with a special performance from French singer-songwriter Clara Luciani.
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