Julianne Moore uses Cannes speech to issue emotional rallying cry for more female-led storytelling in cinema
Oscar winner Julianne Moore used her Women in Motion honour at Cannes to call for more female-led stories and greater opportunities for women across the film industry.
Julianne Moore used an emotional speech at the Cannes Film Festival to call for more female-led storytelling in cinema.
The actress, Julianne, 65, received the 2026 Kering Women in Motion award on Sunday (17.05.26) evening at Place de la Castre in Cannes, where she was honoured for both her four-decade acting career and her advocacy for women’s voices in film.
The prize, launched in 2015 by Kering in partnership with the Cannes Film Festival, recognises figures who advance the role of women in cinema and society, and the audience included fellow actors Demi Moore, Ruth Negga, Vicky Krieps, past honourees Salma Hayek Pinault and Isabelle Huppert – as well as Cannes president Iris Knobloch and festival chief Thierry Fremaux.
Julianne declared during her speech: “I f****** love actresses.”
She added: “This is something that makes me crazy. There is a cultural assumption, particularly in the United States, that women’s stories are less interesting or smaller, or that if we’re at the center of a narrative, we need to be strong or accomplishing something great, or doing something that is particularly male, if we want someone to watch us – if we want men to watch us. And I think that’s untrue.”
The actress, who won the Academy Award for Still Alice and remains widely known for performances in Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Far from Heaven and The Hours, has recently continued earning acclaim for May December alongside Natalie Portman and Charles Melton.
Julianne has also remained active in political and social advocacy, something highlighted during the Cannes tribute.
She also said female audiences were too often overlooked when stories were developed.
Julianne added: “I see the women in my elevator, on the subway, and in the airport. If I need information, I approach a woman.
“When my kids were little, I told them, if you’re ever lost or in trouble, to look for a lady, she will help you. I read books about women. My yoga group is all female, and all of my representatives, my agents, and my managers are female.”
She also said: “I’m not saying this to be particularly binary. Or to say the relationships I have with men or male-identifying people are not important to me, but to celebrate the fact that female point of view matters, matters to me, and that’s paramount in storytelling.”
Julianne went on to speak about what she described as a growing narrative around women becoming “invisible” both in Hollywood and wider society.
She added: “I’m always curious about that narrative. I want to know where they feel invisible, why they feel invisible, and have we been cultured to only be seen by a particular audience, or to only value that gaze.
“I’m also curious at times when I don’t want to be seen, when I want to avoid any gaze, and that’s a lot of the time. But I am always interested in what I want to see.”
She ended her remarks by saying: “We need more female voices in our industry, more writers, more directors, more actresses to carry that vision forward.”
Previous Women in Motion recipients include Jane Fonda, Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon, Patty Jenkins, Gong Li, Viola Davis, Michelle Yeoh, Donna Langley and Julianne’s The Hours co-star Nicole Kidman.
