Kering and the Cannes Festival

Dame Donna Langley has dedicated her career to supporting cinematic works that capture the cultural zeitgeist and give women a voice, promoting inclusion and diversity both in front of and behind the camera. Initially Executive Producer at New Line Cinema, she joined Universal in 2001. She is now Chairman and Chief Content Officer of NBCUniversal Studio Group, and the first British woman to head a major Hollywood studio. Ms. Langley was elevated to the rank of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2020, a recognition of her achievements in redefining popular culture and her efforts to cultivate opportunities for women and people of color across the entertainment industry.

Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu is a graduate of the London Film School and an alumna of Berlinale Talents, Tokyo Talents and the Locarno Filmmakers Academy. In 2023, her first feature film, Tiger Stripes, was awarded the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at the 76th Cannes Festival, making it the first Malaysian film by a female director to be presented at Cannes, and the first Malaysian film to be awarded such a distinction at the Festival. In Tiger Stripes, as well as in her acclaimed short It's Easier to Raise Cattle, she explores the female body and identity in the cultural context of Southeast Asia. 

A Malaysian-born actress and producer of international renown, Michelle Yeoh has been shattering conventions for decades. By portraying complex, determined women on screen, she has helped to challenge gender and age-related stereotypes in the film industry. For her incredible performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, she won the Golden Globe, the SAG Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2023, she thus became the first Asian actress to win an Oscar in this category.

Carmen Jaquier has been examining the constraints that imprison women since her first short film, Bouffe-moi, produced with three friends. In 2011, Le tombeau des filles, her graduation short film project at the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL), won a Silver Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival. This theme is the basis of her other short films.

Actress and film producer, Viola Davis, was presented the Women In Motion Award in 2022. Having already scooped a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and four Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, not to mention Hollywood’sTriple Crown of Acting in the form of two Tony Awards, an Oscar and an Emmy, Davis is the first and only African American actress to receive so many accolades for her contributions to theater, television and cinema. As a committed activist, Viola Davis regularly campaigns for inclusion and gender equality in filmmaking, while also calling out a lack of diversity throughout the industry – whether in production, writing or directing. In response, she decided to form her own film company. Upon receiving her Award, Davis delivered a passionate address to guests attending the Women In Motion dinner.

Ninja Thyberg was given the Young Talent Award during the eighth edition of Women In Motion at the Festival de Cannes. This distinction was accompanied by €50,000 in funding toward her next movie. Since 2009, Thyberg has directed a number of short films using sexuality as a prism for viewing passion in society. The same technique applies to her first feature film, Pleasure, which was chosen for the Official Selection of the 2020 Festival de Cannes (receiving the Cannes 2020 label) and of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. The same work was awarded the Jury Prize at the 2021 Deauville American Film Festival. Shannon Murphy specially selected Ninja Thyberg as her successor to win the prize and financial support.