It’s a scandal: Film director dene rejected from Cannes red carpet for his loafers | The Canadian News

An Indigenous film producer from Vancouver says he was treated like he was “trying to steal something” after being turned away from a red carpet event at the Cannes Film Festival because he was wearing a pair of traditional moccasins.

Kelvin Redvers, a member of the Dene Nation of the Northwest Territories, was at the festival with a group of six Indigenous filmmakers in a Capilino University business program supported by the Office of Indigenous Screen and Telefilm.

On Sunday, he was a guest at the red carpet screening of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s film Les Amandiers, where he planned to wear a formal black suit and bow tie, along with a pair of moccasins handmade by his sister.

Redvers said that the mentoring team he was traveling with had explained to him that, despite the festival’s strict dress code, formal cultural wear was permitted.

“I showed up 100% expecting this to be within the realm of things that (would) be allowed,” Redvers told Global News.

“As a Dene filmmaker, moccasins are an important part of our culture. They’re ceremonial, they can be very special, so if you’re going to allow a kilt for someone who is Scottish, the equivalent would be a pair of moccasins for someone who is dene.”

Redvers said she went through the first of several red carpet checks wearing a pair of regular shoes, so as not to damage the loafers. But once she put them on, the staff was quick to react.

“Almost instantly, someone comes and says, ‘No, no, no, no,'” she said.

The matter was escalated to higher-level festival personnel, and a French-speaking member of their producer group tried to explain the situation to no avail.

“At the end there was a security guard, who I guess broke or snapped or whatever, and he’s a big, intimidating person. (He turned to me and demanded that I leave immediately,” he said.

“After being excited for weeks about bringing my culture to this red carpet event and being told ‘get the hell out, this is not welcome here,’ it stings, and it still stings.”

Redvers left the venue and, after processing the incident, put his leather shoes back on and was allowed to enter the screening.

But he said his team stood up for him and lobbied festival organizers. They listened and arranged a meeting the next day with the festival’s secretary general, one of the people in charge of the red carpet and representatives from the Indigenous Screen Office and Telefilm.

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“He apologized for the way the security person had treated me and we had a discussion,” he said. “But even then, they expressed doubts about understanding this pair of loafers, why it was formal wear.”

The Office of Indigenous Screen offered to help educate festival organizers about the importance of formal cultural dress, such as moccasins or ribbon skirts, he said.

As a result of the meeting, he was also invited to a red carpet screening of Canadian director David Cronenberg’s movie Crimes of the Future Monday, this time, with the loafers. At the checkpoint, he initially met resistance again, which was overruled by a higher-level official, he said.

“That was my favorite part of the festival, being able to go from ‘No, no, no, no’ to ‘Yes, they’re okay for this reason, this is what they stand for, this is who they are to us and to our culture, so they can come in.'”

In a statement, Kerry Swanson, co-executive director of the Indigenous Screen Office, said she was glad the festival organizers had been willing to listen.

“The Indigenous delegation had an incredibly positive experience at Cannes, so it was disappointing to see a delegate turned away at a red carpet event,” she said.

“The Cannes management responded quickly and we very much appreciate the end result, as well as the opportunity to exchange dialogue and cultural understanding. We look forward to continuing our presence at the festival.”

Global News has reached out to the Cannes Film Festival for comment.

While the red carpet incident has generated international attention, Redvers said it overshadowed what was otherwise a very successful trip.

He said his six-member cohort had the opportunity to “sit at the table” and meet with business decision-makers in the film world.

Redvers is currently working on financing his next feature film, described as an $8 million Indian rooftop hostage thriller, and said he was able to establish contacts and build momentum for the project.

“In addition to the festival, there’s a big film market, so there’s a lot of business being done at Cannes with sales agents and distributors,” he said.

Back in Vancouver, Redvers said he hopes the red carpet experience can help spark discussions about cultural recognition and potentially lead to change.

He pointed to the backlash the festival faced in 2015 after rejecting women for wearing flats instead of heels, a policy that was later changed.

“The more people are educated about what those things are, the easier it is to make that decision at the time to say, ‘Oh, that’s OK, let it go,'” he said.

“And that I think is our goal: to be able to have those conversations.”