Greek-American director Daphne Schmon on Friday said women make more than half of the global movie-watching audience and it is important for filmmakers to put their stories at the forefront.

Schmon, whose latest directorial venture is Indian actor Shruti Haasan and Mark Rowley-led thriller "The Eye", was part of a session on the role of women in media and entertainment space held at the Indian Pavilion at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival.

“It’s important to acknowledge that 51 percent of movie going audiences are women. We need to see our stories on screen. We need to focus on having women directors and actors in the forefront," she said.

The filmmaker said through her non-profit organisation Breaking Through The Lens they select around 10 women filmmakers and help them with financing.

"It is important that we see men and women on equal footing as artists. The numbers (box office collection) of 'Wonder Woman' shows that if a film is made well, it will do well even with a woman as the main character. We need to market these films well," Schmon added.

The session titled ‘She Shines’ was moderated by actor-producer Khushboo Sundar and other speakers were actor Esha Gupta and filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Sudhir Mishra.

Sundar said Indian cinema is going through a "beautiful phase" where women are playing an important role not only as actor but also "producers, directors and technicians.” Gupta, known for starring in Hindi films such as "Chakravyuh", "Jannat 2" and "Rustom", said audiences are warming up to female-led stories.

“This year, I completed a decade in industry and till 2019 it was just a dream to have an important role in a film. We were trying to make a film with Anupam Kher and Kumud Mishra, with me as the central character of a female cop, but it was very difficult to get funds for the film.

"When the film came in theatres, it didn’t do well but when the film came on Netflix, it was viewed widely. This shows that audiences want to watch women's stories. Things are changing now but we need more directors who will have faith in our stories," she said. Mishra, fresh out of the critical success of his latest directorial "Afwaah", said he is hopeful that the future will be more favourable for women filmmakers.

“The audiences are changing. They are waiting for the OTT release of films. The environment in the industry is changing rapidly. If we go to a film set, 50 percent of the crew is women. I hope we have more women filmmakers and I hope they tell our (Men’s) perspective too.

“France is one country where there are more women younger directors than men I think. Slowly things are changing, we have Zoya (Akhtar) and Reema (Kagti) and so many others in the south. We still have a long way to go, but we are progressing," he said.

Talking about the government's contribution towards women empowerment in various fields, Minister of State, Information & Broadcasting Ministry, L Murugan said women are shining and will continue to shine in cinema.

"I think our women are already successful in creating a beautiful space in the cinema." He also spoke about how NFDC has trained more than 100 women creators and technicians in the film industry and the initiative called 75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow had more than 70 percent females this year.

“Government has so many schemes dedicated to women power," he added.

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