--- title: Cannes Film Festival Faces Backlash Over High-Heel Only Shoe Policy description: Women are reportedly being turned away from screenings for wearing flat shoes canonical: https://time.com/3885706/cannes-film-festival-high-heels/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-19T13:12:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:17.533Z og:title: Cannes Steps Into Controversy Over High Heel-Only Policy og:description: Women are reportedly being turned away from screenings for wearing flats og:url: https://time.com/3885706/cannes-film-festival-high-heels/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte43aec3266e94109/69884eba3c16396c65457bce/emily-blunt-benico-del-toro-josh-brolin-cannes-france.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4664 og:image:height: 2624 og:image:alt: Benicio del Toro, Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin pose for photographers during a photo call for the film Sicario, at the 68th international film festival, Cannes, France og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cannes Steps Into Controversy Over High Heel-Only Policy twitter:description: Women are reportedly being turned away from screenings for wearing flats twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte43aec3266e94109/69884eba3c16396c65457bce/emily-blunt-benico-del-toro-josh-brolin-cannes-france.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cannes Film Festival Steps Into Controversy Over High Heels-Only Policy > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far) [Watch (HLS stream): The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far)](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S3M25t5U.m3u8) (4:16)  _Published 2012-05-17. TIME movie critic, Richard Corliss lists his top films of the millennium (Thus Far). For the full, list go to time.com/entertainment_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 19, 2015 1:12 PM UTC  Benicio del Toro, Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin pose for photographers during a photo call for the film Sicario, at the 68th international film festival, Cannes, France, on May 19, 2015. Benicio del Toro, Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin pose for photographers during a photo call for the film Sicario, at the 68th international film festival, Cannes, France, on May 19, 2015. Joel Ryan—Invision/AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 19, 2015 1:12 PM UTC The Cannes Film Festival is facing backlash after several women reported that they were stopped from entering screenings for wearing the wrong shoes. [_Screen Daily_](http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/cannes/cannes-women-denied-palais-entry-for-wearing-flats/5088395.article) reports the women were turned away from a screening of _Carol_ in their rhinestone flat shoes, even though some of the women reportedly suffered from unspecified medical conditions and couldn’t wear heels. According to the [_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/19/cannes-backlash-high-heels-emily-blunt-flat-shoes), festival-goers are to be “smartly dressed” at Cannes screenings—men are required to wear black tie and shoes, but the guidelines for women are murkier. _Amy_ director Asif Kapadia said his wife was even initially turned away from a screening for wearing flat shoes, though she was eventually let in. > [](https://twitter.com/asifkapadia/status/600549420766273536) Many are calling the alleged rule sexist. Actress Emily Blunt said in a press conference on Tuesday that all women should wear flats, adding that a heels-only dress code for women would be “very disappointing, just when you kind of think there are these new waves of equality.” Benico del Toro and Josh Brolin also [joked](https://twitter.com/nigelmfs/status/600597601810051072) that they should wear heels in protest. Cannes director Thierry Fremaux [tweeted](https://twitter.com/THIERRYFREMAUX/status/600595653606187008), however, that the heels-only rule was “unfounded,” despite the women’s reports. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Hi I'm Richard Corliss, Time Magazine movie critic, to show you my infallible or highly debatable selection of the movies of the millennium. [ MUSIC ] [ INAUDIBLE ] Stronger. In a way, these movies, made in the last 12 years, cover the whole history of movies. [ SOUND ] You'll also find a few films that look forward to the stories and techniques of the next hundred years. The fellowship awaits the ring bearer. [ MUSIC ] The Artist. It's a movie set in Hollywood's silent era and it's virtually wordless. Is that a gimmick? Nope. A sustained cinematic inspiration. Deserving of every prize it received, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. This tres French film was also the most classically American picture of its time. [ SOUND ] Found something. The Hurt Locker. US soldiers coming to Iraq knew what to expect: 130 degree heat. And streets full of men, women, and kids, [ CROSSTALK ] any one of whom could detonate a bomb that would blow Americans and Iraqis to bits. What's the best way to, to go about disarming one of these things? The [ INAUDIBLE ]. [ LAUGH ] That's a good one. Determined to get the facts straight, not to score political points. Kathryn Bigelow made an honest, searing war film that fully deserved its Oscar for Best Picture. It's just 39 days. 38 if we survive today. [ SOUND ] Avatar. James Cameron's science fiction 3D film does what fantasy is supposed to do. Create a total environmental experience. Viewers don't just visit the Pandora rainforest, like the movie's paraplegic hero Jake, they find their legs and quickly their home there. To become [ UNKNOWN ]. Hunter, you must choose you're own ikran, and he must choose you. [ NOISE ]. For a sensational, seductive movie immersion, Avatar has it all over Cameron's previous blockbuster. This film is truly titanic. [ SOUND ] The lord of the rings trilogy. Two forms are daring on display here, Peter Jackson's for synopsizing tokens novels into three spectacular three hour films. And the commercial daring of new lines cinema which financed a $ 300 million three part telling of the token saga. Before a single frame had been shot. Will you look into the mirror? What will I see? Even the wisest cannot tell, for the mirror shows many things. [ SOUND ] The movies of the past dozen years, will be remembered for their technical wizardry and digital sheen. Wall- E has all that. [ SOUND ] Plus a toy- meets- girl love story as pure as any in the cinema's first 100 years. This Pixar animated feature, designed as family entertainment, had a bold vision both in story and in sound. [ SOUND ] There's plenty of space out in space, female star liners leaving each day. We'll clean up the mess while you're away. And when Wall E meets his sleek robot Eve, they inhabit a sci fi cyborg romance for the ages. 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