Cannes

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Text and photos: Martin I. Petrov 

While the world is in expectation of the new House of Cards season, coming on Netflix at the end of May, Robin Wright attended the very first Women in Film talk presented by Kering and Variety, in advance of the premiere of her short film The Dark of Night, at the opening of Cannes Classics tonight at 8 pm at the Bunuel Theatre. 

The American actress, producer and director spoke about the empowering change for women in the film industry, about her experineces as a young actress and how she became a strong, independent and less vulnerable female actor. In refernce to her early year, Wright noted how sexist her first casting experiences felt and that it took a long time for women to be able to request equal pay and rights, but now "it is time, for women in film"! 

Speaking about the upcoming House of Cards season, Wright didn't hide that the current American politics have inspired most of it, making the series more relevant than ever in the US and beyond. "Michelle Obama would make a great president, I think her time will come soon" said the actress in response to a question about women in US politics. 

The inspiration for an actress and activist like Robin Wright comes from travelling to places and connecting with people. "Observing human dynamics is what keeps me moving. 'Touching' people's hearts gets me excited to explore, see things and tell stories." 

Wright got her directorial baprism on the set of House of cards and now her debut short film tells the story of an unemployed insurance adjuster who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. "I was really overwhelmed the first time behind the camera - didn't really know what to do. But what I've learned is to never say 'don't'. It automatically makes people concious that they are doing something wrong." The film was shot in one day in Baltimore with the entire crew of House of Cards volunteering to make it happen and crowdfunding to get the production off the ground. 

Finally, commenting on the Netflix conflict with the festival in regards to cinema distribution rights of their films in France, Wright avoided a direct comment. "I obviously work for a company in the US and we make streaming content, available in a format unseen and unknown to us before, which is so unique. I think we need to focus on the difference this makes".