In Cannes, the rise of the famous steps is at the heart of a controversy. Filmmaker native of America Kelvin Redvers has claimed he was recently denied entry to the red carpet of the 75th edition of the Festival because he wore moccasins, traditional shoes that he was later able to put on.
“I grew up with my culture and moccasins are important. I understand that there are certain rules about dress code on the red carpet so I thought if I wore a tuxedo, a bow tie, and a piece that showed I was Native, that would be okay,” said director Déné, originally from the Northwest Territories, on the CBC channel on Saturday. “In many cultures in Canadamoccasins are very much considered traditional and formal clothing,” he pointed out.
“Hard to digest things like that”
Kelvin Redvers traveled to France with a delegation of Indigenous filmmakers and was invited to the film’s premiere The Almond Trees by Franco-Italian actress Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, screened on May 22. Officials from the festival’s security service, however, blocked his access, told the director in several major media. He was then allowed to return to the red carpet in different shoes.
“It’s hard to digest things like that. Even now when I think about it, it upsets me. I was disappointed, angry, ”he explained, on his return to Vancouver. Kelvin Redvers further said he’s been “excited for a while” about being able to wear his brown loafers, which were made by his sister.
The organizers have since however done everything to make up for this oddity. In the hours following the incident, the director said he met with senior festival officials, who apologized and invited him to wear the loafers on the red carpet during the presentation of the Future Crimes of David CronenbergMonday.
This week, the filmmaker further said on Facebook that he hopes this incident will send a message “around the world that traditional indigenous clothing is completely acceptable in formal settings like the red carpet”.