French culture takes ageing very seriously. There's much less ageism than in Anglo-Saxon countries.

I do consider myself as being French, I suppose.

If anyone says 'Let's have a girls' night out', I will run in the opposite direction.

You don't choose a film because it's made by a woman, you choose it because it's good.

I know I can be bolshy and really unpleasant, and it always happens if I lose confidence in the people I'm working with. If I've got no confidence in what I'm doing and they don't provide me with some assurance that we're doing the right thing then I bully people. I'm a horrible bully.

I'm very wary of trust, you see.

The Cannes film festival is about big-budget films but also remarkable films made in different political regimes by film-makers with little resources.