MONTREAL, May 29, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Indigenous Canadian filmmaker Kelvin 
Redvers was denied entry to the red carpet at the 75th Cannes Film Festival 
because he was wearing traditional moccasins, he told Canadian media on 
Saturday.

The director is a member of the Dene Indigenous community and grew up in the 
Northwest Territories of Canada. 

"I grew up around my culture on the land and moccasins are a big deal," he 
told CBC. 

"I understand that there are certain rules about dress code on the red carpet 
so I thought if I wore a tuxedo, a bow tie, and a piece that showed I was 
Indigenous, it would be accepted."

Redvers added that moccasins "are very much considered traditional and formal 
clothing" among many cultures in Canada. 

The director had traveled to France with a delegation of Indigenous 
filmmakers and was invited to the premiere of "Les Amandiers" by French-
Italian actor Valeria Bruni Tedeschi on May 22. 

Festival security officials, however, barred him from the red carpet, Redvers 
told several major Canadian media outlets. He was only allowed to return once 
he had changed his shoes.
 
"It's kind of hard to process things like that. I was almost, and even now 
when I think about it, (it) kind of gets me a little upset. I was 
disappointed. I was angry," he explained upon his return to Vancouver, 
British Columbia.
 
The brown moccasins had been made by Redvers' sister, and he said he was 
"excited" to wear them at a significant moment in his life. 

"Every time I wear them, it's (the) best feeling, to be connected to family 
and Dene roots," he said. 

Within hours of the incident, the filmmaker said he met with top festival 
officials, who apologized and invited him to wear the shoes on the red carpet 
during the presentation of David Cronenberg's "Crimes of the Future" on 
Monday. 

Redvers said on Facebook that he hoped the incident would help spread the 
word around the world "that Indigenous cultural wear is completely acceptable 
in formal settings like the red carpet."