'Mad Max', Meryl Streep and #MeToo in strong day for women at Cannes

A blood-splattered Mad Max heroine, a Meryl Streep masterclass, a #MeToo figurehead -- the Cannes Film Festival showed the progress women have made in cinema on its first full day on Wednesday.

The festival was bracing for the world premiere of Furiosa, the latest instalment of the post-apocalyptic Mad Max franchise, with Anya Taylor-Joy in the no-holds-barred title role playing alongside Thor star Chris Hemsworth.

While Furiosa plays out-of-competition, the race for festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, also gets underway on Wednesday with two films that put women's stories centre-stage.

They are being judged by a jury led by Greta Gerwig, the first woman to direct a $1 billion movie with Barbie.

First up are The Girl with the Needle, billed as the story of a Danish woman running an underground adoption agency after World War I, and Wild Diamond about a French teenager seeking fame on a reality TV show, from first-time director Agathe Riedinger.

French star Lea Seydoux, who appeared in the opening night film The Second Act, said she had personally witnessed more respect for women on sets since the #MeToo movement.

"I was an actress before and after, and I can only welcome the change," said Seydoux, who famously denounced the director of her Cannes-winning breakthrough Blue is the Warmest Colour for the "horrible" conditions when shooting its explicit scenes.

"Today, I see that there is respect on set, even for intimate scenes," Seydoux told reporters.

Streep masterclass

One of the most iconic women in cinema, Meryl Streep, has her own masterclass to deliver a day after receiving an honorary Palme d'Or at the opening ceremony.

"I'm just so grateful that you haven't gotten sick of my face," Streep, 74, joked as she received the award from French actor Juliette Binoche.

And there is a screening of a short film about sexual violence, Moi Aussi ("Me Too"), by French actor Judith Godreche.

She has become a leading figure in France's #MeToo movement after accusing two directors of assaulting her when she was a teenager in the 1980s -- even appearing before the French Senate this year to call for greater protections on film sets.

It comes amid a wave of new allegations in France, most notably against veteran actor Gerard Depardieu, and persistent rumours that more big names will face accusations.

Godreche told AFP she has a nuanced view of the #MeToo movement.

"There is growing awareness, but sometimes things are announced in a way that feels too staged. It's not very spectacular being abused, it's not very funny, it's not very theatrical," she said.

Gerwig hopeful

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