The real issue here is that women are still significantly under-represented in many high-profile fields. It's a mistake that we always ask why are there so few women filmmakers or why are there so few female physicists or why are there so few women CEOs or why … etc. The real question is why are there so few women in almost all high-profile fields. This is a larger social problem that Cannes can really do anything about. The unfortunate reality is that he is right, there just aren't that many talented female directors. Of course, there are female masters, Akerman, Varda, Chytilova come to mind immediately, but there are countless more men that come to mind than women. The real issue is how we can structure our societies and nurture the potential talents of women, who have been held back for a variety of social reasons, to not just succeed in filmmaking, but more broadly in science, business, etc. That's not something Cannes can achieve by letting a few mediocre women-directed films slide in.

Of course, the situation would be helped somewhat if some critics were more active in promoting women directors who often tend to work outside the major studios and distributors. Clio Barnard's "The Arbor" was a fantastic film, especially for a feature-length debut, and she just wrapped her next film "The Selfish Giant" which I haven't heard a peep about from Indiewire, despite covering every little rumor about "Man of Steel."