In what appears to have been an audacious display of Ukrainian solidarity, an unidentified young woman, wearing a floor-length blue and yellow ballgown, grabbed attention during the premiere of the movie ‘Acide’ by pouring fake blood over herself on the red carpet.

As she mounted the stairs to the theatre on Sunday, she stopped and turned before, with a defiant smile, reaching into her dress and pulling out two capsules of fake blood which she then burst over her head.

As she was taken away, the word ‘Scum’ could be seen written across her back.

At the time of writing her identity remains unknown.

The Cannes Film Festival itself has been a platform for showcasing solidarity with Ukraine. In 2022 President Zelensky opened the event with a passionate speech calling on the global film industry to take a stand against Russian aggression.

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The festival has also enforced a ban on Russian delegations or film companies connected to the Putin government, which remains in place at this year’s festival.

Thierry Frémaux, the director of this year’s Festival, said before the event began last week that it stood in solidarity with Ukraine and at the opening ceremony on Tuesday evening, French actress Catherine Deneuve paid tribute to the victims of the war by reciting the poem Hope by Lesya Ukrainka.

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