Julianne Moore warns gender equality still distant at Cannes event

Oscar winner Julianne Moore said true gender equality remains a distant goal as she accepted an award on Sunday night for championing women in film at an elegant soiree removed from the Cannes Film Festival red carpet bustle.

Guests, including Daisy Edgar Jones, Sebastian Stan, Colman Domingo and Odessa A'ziony, attended the French Riviera town's yacht-filled bay from the historic Place de la Castre ahead of the ceremony.

"We're pretty far away, honestly, in lots of the world in terms of real gender equality," Moore told Reuters.

"It's not something that is endemic to the film industry. It's something that's a global issue," she added.

Moore, who began her career in daytime soap operas, including As the World Turns, went on to win an Oscar for best actress in 2015 for playing a university professor with Alzheimer's disease in Still Alice.

A regular presence at major film festivals including Cannes, Moore has also been outspoken on social and political issues, frequently using her platform to advocate for greater equality and representation in the film industry as well as in wider public life.

"She has been consistently brilliant for decades now, she's an inspiration. Also, her taste is impeccable in material," said actor and producer Salma Hayek, who is married to Kering's controlling shareholder and chair, Francois-Henri Pinault.

Women in Motion, set up by French luxury group Kering in 2015, also handed out its 50,000-euro ($58,125) emerging talent award to Italian filmmaker Margherita Spampinato, which will go towards making her second feature film.

Speaking at a separate event on Saturday, Moore likened efforts to improve female representation to how a mouse would get through a wall: "One bite at a time. You do it slowly, steadily, mindfully. Making choices, speaking up, using your privilege, hiring more."