Flat shoes canned at Cannes

Film producer Valeria Richter, who has part of her left foot amputated, says she was stopped at the Cannes Film Festival for not wearing high heels. She told BBC 5 live the Clothing Nazis pointed at her shoes and said: "No, no, this won't work, you can't get in like this." Ms Richter, who was eventually allowed in, spoke after Cannes was accused of turning away women in flat shoes. Richter told the BBC she "couldn't keep her balance" in heels, after having her big toe and part of her left foot amputated. She was stopped four times on her way into the premiere of Gus Van Sant's Sea of Trees on Saturday. "They pointed their finger at my shoe and then were waving their fingers at me," she said. "It was quite obvious it was my shoes that was an issue." "Obviously, I could wave my foot at them," she said, "and that would make the situation a little awkward for them, because I had a visible explanation [for not wearing heels]". Although Ms Richter was eventually granted entry, she said "many of my colleagues who can't wear heels were rejected and did not come in." Seriously, why should one have to have a penis to be allowed to wear flat-soled shoes inside, especially in a year when Cannes is seeking to address sexism in cinema? The festival has a less than stellar reputation when it came to women's clothes (this year, believe it or not, is the first time women are allowed to wear trousers to their premieres), and this has to change. This crap may be OK in Saudi Arabia, but not in France. It's ridiculous that women in the Western world are still being expected in 2015 to sieg heil to male chauvinism.