Susan Sarandon with Salma Hayek. Sarandon said that the pornography industry would benefit from more female input

Female directors make sex on screen more interesting, Susan Sarandon has claimed, as she sets her sights on making the pornography industry more acceptable to women.

The Oscar-winning actress said that female directors were less embarrassed about exploring the reason people have sex and “what the scene is supposed to tell you about these people”.

Sarandon was speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, which has often been overshadowed by accusations of sexism. There is annual criticism of the low number of female directors, and last year it emerged that festival organisers demanded that women attending red-carpet events had to wear high heels.

This year there are three female directors in competition. Critics have observed that the sex scenes in their films are more adventurous than