Dene’s director says he was thrown off the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival because he was wearing moccasins.
Calvin Redvers, from the Northwest Territories and working in British Columbia, says he hopes the incident is a learning moment for event organizers and helps spread the festival’s idea of what is considered formal wear.
Redvers traveled to France as part of a delegation of six local directors with the support of Telefilm, the local screen office and the FILMBA program at the University of Capilano.
He was invited to a screening on the red carpet of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s Les Amandiers. Cannes has strict rules for formal wear on the red carpet – black ties for men, evening dresses for women – but there are places for traditional formal wear, such as Scottish kilts or Indian saris.
Redvers thought his moccasins combined with a tuxedo would qualify.
Calvin Redvers says he hopes his experience in Cannes will start a conversation between festival organizers about their definition of formal wear. (Ben Nelms / CBC)
“For me, these moccasins are ceremonial, they’re mostly formal,” he told CBC On The Coast Friday. “So I’m going to wear a great tuxedo, I’m going to look super good, but I’m going to insert just a little bit of Indigeneity.”
Redvers had the moccasins in his bag as he walked through the first checkpoint, he said. He put them on and was then alerted by security at a second checkpoint, who told him he could not wear moccasins.
I said to myself, “No, no. “It’s official for me, I’m Dene,” he said.
A French-speaking member of the Redverse cohort tried to discuss the security situation. In the end, Redvers said, one guard was enough.
“I guess he reached his limit and quite aggressively, just put his foot down to go, leave, go now, go,” he said.
WATCH Dene’s director was turned down in Cannes for wearing moccasins
Cannes security rejected this director by Dene for wearing moccasins
Dene’s director Kelvin Redvers is traveling to the Cannes Film Festival as part of a delegation of six local directors. Redvers says he was diverted from the red carpet because he was wearing moccasins.
Redvers was eventually allowed back on the red carpet after changing shoes, but he said the incident upset him and his contingent.
“I was really shocked by this aggressive attitude about what was such an exciting thing for me,” he said.
Redverse, the local screen office and Telefilm met with the organizers of the festival, who apologized. He was then invited to wear moccasins at the red carpet screening of Canadian director David Cronenberg’s new film Crimes of the Future on Monday. He said he encountered some resistance on arrival, but was eventually removed.
Redvers says he hopes his experience with the red carpet has sparked a conversation among Cannes officials about the nuances of traditional formal wear.
Part of his clash, he said, may be due to the fact that so few indigenous people have visited Cannes.
“I guess they just weren’t exposed to something like this pair of moose-skin moccasins,” he said.
He says he hopes this will change, adding that Cannes is more than just red carpets, but it is also a time for contacts. He says all six local filmmakers have established contacts with the industry, which they hope will lead to deals to fund and distribute their projects.
“We all … believe we’re so close to the premiere of our films and just attend festivals like this because we all have great projects and a lot of great talent ahead.”
The CBC turned to the Cannes Film Festival for comment.
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