To heel or not to heel, that is the Cannes question

Reportedly, a women had been turned away from a film premiere for failing to wear heels

CANNES, FRANCE: Perhaps not since Cinderella lost a glass slipper at the ball has there been such a stir about glamorous footwear as there was on Tuesday in Cannes over a report that women had been turned away from a film premiere for failing to wear heels.

Social media and the festival gossip circuit lit up after the Screen Daily trade publication reported that a handful of women had been refused entry to Sunday's premiere of Todd Haynes's Carol for wearing flats.

Cannes director Thierry Fremaux tweeted about the controversy in French.

https://twitter.com/THIERRYFREMAUX/status/600595653606187008

BBC provided an English translation: "For the stairs, the regulations have not changed: 'No smoking, formal wear'. There is no mention of heels."

PHOTO: WALESONLINE.CO.UK

Asif Kapadia, the director of the Amy Winehouse documentary Amy, said on Twitter that his wife was initially refused entry to his film's Cannes premiere on Saturday because she was not wearing heels, but she was eventually allowed in.

@muirkate happened to my wife (eventually let in)

— asifkapadia (@asifkapadia) May 19, 2015

Actress Emily Blunt, asked about the Screen Daily report, called it "very disappointing, obviously".

She wasn't the only one who was upset by the news, tweets soon surfaced disapproving of such rules

Shocking report that Cannes bans flats on red carpet!Director of Amy Asif Kapadia says his wife was given rough time 2.Unacceptable surely.

— Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) May 20, 2015

https://twitter.com/nbeglari/status/600892976655536128
https://twitter.com/caitlinstasey/status/600881149515210752

I detest flat shoes. Hate them with passion but to ban women wearing them from an event is just not right. http://t.co/4Xmg1PVImB

— Nara Hodge (@Nara_Hodge) May 19, 2015

Flat shoe ban at Cannes is flat out dumb! Glad to see they've backed down [e-mail] http://t.co/qfAAKGH4ki

— Caroline Turriff (@carolineturriff) May 19, 2015

"I think everyone should wear flats to be honest, at the best of times, we shouldn't wear high heels anyway, that's just my point of view. I just prefer wearing combat sneakers," Emily said at a news conference to launch her competition film Sicario.

The film's Canadian director, Denis Villeneuve joked that he and his male stars, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin, would wear heels to the evening premiere of Sicario in protest of the ban.

Careful scrutiny of television footage of the red carpet for the film's premiere showed no sign of any of the trio in heels.

The red carpet at Cannes is highly regulated by tradition; men are expected to wear tuxedos, and women, dresses and heels for premieres.

PHOTO: CELEBRITYTOOB

Although, the dress code is not explicitly spelled out by the festival but it is enforced by security guards.

Before the star-studded event began organisers had also hoped to cut down on red carpet selfies.

Sky News quoted Cannes director as saying in a press conference that "We are waging a campaign to slow down the contemporary practice of selfies on the red carpet and the steps.

PHOTO: CANNES2015

"Beyond what we think, it’s a practice that’s often extremely ridiculous and grotesque."

However, the crackdown has largely been flouted by celebrities attending parties and film screenings including Salma Hayek, Paris Hilton and Eva Longoria.