Screaming, topless woman in Ukraine colours crashes Idris Elba film's Cannes premiere

An unidentified woman, wearing body paint in Ukraine flag colours crashed the red carpet event of Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton's Three Thousand Years of Longing.

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Unidentified woman crashes Three Thousand Years of Longing red carpet event at Cannes 2022. (Photo: AFP, screengrab)
Unidentified woman crashes Three Thousand Years of Longing red carpet event at Cannes 2022. (Photo: AFP, screengrab)

George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing, starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton in leading roles, had a debut at Cannes 2022 on Friday, May 20. The film is a follow-up to Mad Max: Fury Road. However, the red carpet event was disrupted when a woman barged in, stripped on the red carpet and started screaming until she had to be escorted off. Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton, along with Idris's wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba and director George Miller walked the red carpet for the Cannes premiere of their film, Three Thousand Years of Longing.

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SCREAMING WOMAN STRIPS ON CANNES RED CARPET

Just as the stars of Three Thousand Years of Longing started walking the red carpet, an unidentified woman burst onto the scene and started screaming. She then stripped down on the red carpet and fell to her knees screaming. She appeared to be wearing body paint in the colour of the Ukraine flag with the words 'stop raping us' written across her upper body. She also appeared to have palm prints in red paint around her lower abdomen and thighs. She also had the word 'scum' written across her lower back in body paint.

The woman was protesting against sexual violence in Ukraine. Soon, Cannes security rushed in, covered her in a coat and escorted her off the red carpet.

Later, the radical feminist group Scum posted video footage of the incident on Twitter, and wrote, "This activist exposed the war rapes and sexual torture committed on Ukrainian women by russian soldiers (sic)."

The incident has raised questions about the level of security at Cannes. Attendees have revealed that one has to go through multiple security checks before getting into Cannes’ Lumiere theatre. One has to go through checkpoints with guards in position as well as a metal detector. Guards are also visible on the red carpet, who usher them in for entry to the red carpet and then the theatre.

The Cannes Film Festival has not issued a comment yet.