Scarlett Johansson is set to star on-screen and behind the camera at this years Cannes Film Festival, organisers said Thursday as they unveiled the line-up of films that will compete for honours on the French Riviera.
Johansson will appear alongside Benicio Del Toro and Tom Hanks in Wes Andersons new movie The Phoenician Scheme, one of the films competing for the coveted Palme dOr for best film.
She will also present her directorial debut Eleanor the Great, about an elderly woman coping with the death of her best friend, in the secondary Un Certain Regard competition.
Organisers stressed they were serious about giving women filmmakers a platform at the worlds premier film festival, with pressure on its bosses to take a stand on gender equality and tackling sexual abuse and harassment.
Speaking at a press conference in Paris, President Iris Knobloch said the festival was attentive to the recommendations of a hard-hitting parliamentary inquiry into MeToo abuses which reported its findings on Wednesday.