Woman removed from Cannes Film Festival red carpet after she protests against sexual violence in Ukraine

A female protestor had to be removed from the Cannes Film Festival red carpet on Friday after she protested against sexual violence against women in Ukraine, much to the surprise of several celebrities present there. In videos of the incident posted online, the women could be seen in a semi-nude state with paint on the lower part of her body reaching the red carpet before guards escorted her off. The prestigious film festival has been underway in southern France since May 17. Also read: Hina Khan is ‘disheartened’ at not being invited to India Pavilion at Cannes

As per a report in The Hollywood Reporter, eyewitnesses said that the woman stripped off all of her clothes and fell to her knees screaming in front of the assembled photographers. Security guards were seen rushing over to her and covering her with a coat.

The protester had put paint over her body in the colours of the Ukrainian flag and the words “stop raping us” across her chest and abdomen. The woman also appeared to have blood-red paint over her lower back and legs with the word ‘scum’ written on her back.

The incident took place at the premiere of George Miller’s Three Thousand Years Of Longing, which stars Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. The director and stars were reportedly present when the episode took place.

Cannes Film Festival is one of the most prestigious cinema events in the world, held annually in the summer at Cannes, France. The festival sees the premieres and screenings of some of the biggest and most critically-acclaimed films from across the world. An eight-member jury determines the top prizes in the competition section from the various films. This year, at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, Deepika Padukone is part of the festival’s jury.

Since the beginning of Russia’s millitary operation in Ukraine earlier this year, there have been numerous reports of Russian soldiers sexually abusing Ukrainian civilians, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had appeared at the opening ceremony of the festival through a live satellite video address. In an emotional speech, he called on the filmmakers to ‘confront dictators’.

(With ANI inputs)