Ukrainian blogger protests at Cannes Film Festival 2023

KARACHI: Is the Cannes Film Festival ever complete without a showstopping protest? Last year, two protests at the most prestigious film festival made headlines. The first spectacle was a topless woman protesting sexual violence against women in Ukraine in the midst of the war with Russia. The second protest took place before the screening of Holy Spider, carrying a banner with the names of 129 women killed in France since the last time the festival was held. The group, who was a part of the feminist group Les Colleuses were all dressed in black and even set off smoke grenades while posing for pictures. For this year’s protest at Cannes 2023, a Ukrainian woman made the news. Here’s all we know about the protestor.

Despite the fact that this year, the city of Cannes had banned protests along the Croisette and its surroundings during the festival, one woman managed to slip through the cracks. Ilona Chernobai, a Ukrainian fitness trainer with one million followers on Instagram, inconspicuously managed to walk the red carpet at Cannes 2023 wearing a a blue and yellow dress, symbolizing the Ukraine flag. But as she made her way up the stairs, she pulled out bags of fake blood from underneath her dress and poured them over herself.

She took to social media to explain the thought process behind her protest and wrote, “The action was in support of the occupied territories and our people who live there.” She went on to say, “I used my chance and with this act I reminded what is happening in Ukraine!!!”

The influencer claims that following her protest at The Cannes Film Festival 2023, she is banned from the events and others, but also says it was worth it.