Cannes Sets Competition Record With 4 Women Directors

What a difference a year makes. After shutting out women filmmakers entirely in 2010, the recently announced Cannes Film Festival competition will welcome four female directors next month on the Croisette -- a new record for the 64-year-old event.

Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Julia Leigh (Sleeping Beauty), Naomi Kawase (Hanezu no Tsuki) and mono-named French actress/auteur Maïwenn (Polisse) made the cut, joining out-of-competition peers including Jodie Foster, Nadine Labaki and Trabalhar cansa co-director Juliana Rojas. The selections exceed the profile the ladies most recently had in 2009, when Jane Campion, Isabel Coixet and Andrea Arnold tied the standing record of three before the 2010 Cannes sausage party came along and squelched all that.

Still, this development raises a few burning questions: Could the second Palme d'Or-winning woman (after Campion, for The Piano in 1993) be far behind? Moreover, should we sell "We Cannes Do It!" T-shirts and other commemorative merch featuring Ramsay the Riveter? This could be big!

EARLIER: 2011 Cannes Film Festival Selections

Where Are All the Women Directors in This Year's Cannes Competition?