I didn’t find out about this petition until a few days ago, but Steve Pond at The Wrap covered it. ¬†They have a Facebook group, which reads:
To: The Organisers of the Cannes Film Festival
As people who care about and are interested in films we must protest
the lack of female directors in competition for the 2010 Cannes Film
Festival. Women make up over half of cinema audiences and we
demand a fairer representation of female directors in the main
competition.
We are raising our voices in protest in hopes that in the future this will
never happen again. 

We are watching. We will not be silent.Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Pond writes, “As of Thursday morning, close to 900 people had signed the petition. By the time the awards are handed out at Sunday‚Äôs ceremony, the number will certainly be more than 1,000.”
Considering the amount of mediocre films on display at Cannes, one wonders what gives? Is it lack of opportunity or lack of faith?
Pond writes:
When asked about the absence of women in competition, jury president Tim Burton said he could not address the issue because her didn’t know what the selection process entailed. Actress Kate Beckinsale, a member of the jury, said she didn’t know why it had happened, but added, “It’s important to have a female sensibility in the movies.”
Since 2000, 212 films have been entered in the main competition at Cannes; of those, 17 have been directed by women.
One woman, Jane Campion, has won the Palme d’Or. Hers came in 1993 for “The Piano.”
Until 2009, that’s still a better record than the Oscars. There are 930 signatures on the Facebook page.