Cannes Film Festival Under Fire for Turning Away Women without Heels

The Cannes Film Festival has received a lot of backlash for its strict dress code. According to several reports, women who did not wear heels were turned away from a premiere.

Screen Daily reported that several middle-aged women were not allowed to enter the premiere for Todd Haynes's "Carol," which is about a lesbian romance during the 1950s, because they were wearing flats.

"Someone I know was turned away for wearing nice flats, nothing you would wear to the beach. They were in their 50s. They told her she could go and buy appropriate shoes and come back," an unnamed source told Screen.

Asif Kapadia, the director of the documentary "Amy," tweeted that his wife had issues getting into an event last week because she did not wear heels.

Actress Emily Blunt was asked about these reports of women getting turned away. Blunt spoke out against the policy, stating that it is "very disappointing."

Blunt added, "Everyone should wear flats, to be honest, at the best of time. You kind of think that there's these new waves of equality."

Blunt was there to premiere "Sicario," a Mexican thriller about drugs. Director Denis Villeneuve and actors Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin, joked that they would protest the policy by wearing heels.

Christine Aime, the festival spokeswoman, addressed the issue and stated that the festival staff must have made a mistake when they turned away women in flats.

She clarified, "There is no specific mention about the height of the women's heels as well as for men's. Thus, in order to make sure that this rule is respected, the festival's hosts and hostesses were reminded of it."

The film festival is known for having a very traditional dress code. Men are expected to wear tuxedos and women are expected to wear dresses with heels. The dress policy is often enforced by the hosts/hostesses of the event and their bodyguards.