Nicole Kidman honoured with Women in Motion award in Cannes

Nicole Kidman has received the top honour at the annual Kerin Women in Motion event at the Cannes Film Festival.

Every year, two prizes are presented: the Women in Motion Award, which honours iconic figures from the world of cinema, and the Emerging Talent Award, which this year went to Brazilian filmmaker Marianna Brennand.

Kidman has been coming to Cannes for 32 years.

"When I first came here, it was with Far and Away," she remembered.

"The next year, I came with To Die For. Two very different films."

And many more have followed. In 2017 she appeared in four festival films, including Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled, which won Coppola best director.

At that time, only four per cent of directors in the US were women, and Kidman made a public commitment at the festival to make a film with a female director every 18 months.

She has now made 27 projects helmed by women. As a producer, she said it was hard at first to come up with eligible names.

Her trump card was to offer to appear in their films herself.

"The only way to do it is to actually do the work, show up and go: 'I'm here. I'll be in your film'."

Previous winners of the Women in Motion Award include Malaysian-born actor and producer Michelle Yeoh; campaigning actor, producer and director Salma Hayek; Chinese film star Gong Li; and, jointly, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon.