Cate Blanchett has defended the lack of female directors at Cannes this year, arguing that change will come to the film festival, but “not overnight”.

Speaking at an opening-day press conference for the festival, the Australian actor pointed to the female-majority makeup of this year’s jury – which she heads – and an increase of women on the event’s selection board as evidence of Cannes’ commitment to be more inclusive, but argued that the process of selecting films for the festival should be determined on merit rather than gender parity.

“There are several women in competition, and they’re not there because of their gender, they’re there because of the quality of their work, and we’ll be assessing them as film-makers, as we should be,” she said.

The festival has been widely criticised in recent weeks for including only three films directed by women in its 21-film official selection lineup. To date, Jane Campion remains the only female film-maker to have won the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or.

Blanchett, however, suggested that Cannes was seeking to address the issue of gender imbalance. “A few years ago there were only two [female directors in competition],” she said. “The selection committee now has more women on board than in previous years, which will obviously change the lens through which the films are chosen. But these things are not going to happen overnight.”

“Would I like to see more women in competition? Absolutely. Do I expect and hope that that’s going to happen in the future? I hope so. But we’re dealing with what we have this year, and our role in the next almost two weeks is to deal with what is in front of us,” she added.

Blanchett also addressed the wider movement for gender equality in the film industry, suggesting that profound change would “take place through specific actions, not generalisations, and not through pontification. It’s addressing the gender gap and it’s addressing the racial diversity, and equality and the way that we make the work.”

In an earlier press conference on Monday, Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux repeated his own belief that selections should be determined by artistic merit, but added that the festival would seek to select more films directed by women in future, as well including more women on its selection committee.

“Cinema has always been in the hands of men. There will be more and more [female film-makers] in the future,” he said. “It isn’t just the Cannes film festival that’s going to change. The whole world has changed.”

Frémaux is set to announce further commitments at an event on 14 May that will feature members of the Time’s Up movement against gender inequality as well as France’s minister of culture, Françoise Nyssen. Before that, on Saturday, around 100 women will walk the red carpet together in order to “affirm their presence”, Frémaux said. They will include the five female members of this year’s jury – Blanchett, actors Kristen Stewart and Léa Seydoux, Selma director Ava DuVernay and Burundian musician Khadja Nin.

As well as a perceived gender imbalance in its lineup, Cannes is also having to reckon with its past connection with Harvey Weinstein. The producer, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 70 women, had been a prominent attendee at the festival and a number of the actions of which he has been accused are alleged to have taken place there.

In response to the allegations, Cannes has set up a hotline offering support for anyone who encounters sexual harassment or physical or emotional abuse at this year’s festival. In addition, flyers urging “correct behaviour” have been included in the gift bags handed out to attendees.

Weinstein, who is the subject of criminal investigations in New York, Los Angeles and London, denies all claims of non-consensual sex made against him.

In the press conference Blanchett also expressed sympathy for Iran’s Jafar Panahi and Russia’s Kirill Serebrennikov, the two dissident directors barred from leaving their respective home countries to attend the festival. “It is a terrible situation that two of the film-makers will more than likely not be here when their films screen,” she said.

She demurred, however, when asked if political situations such as Panahi’s and Serebrennikov’s would have a bearing on how their films were judged at the festival. “I think this has not become a political film festival, and I think the making of the work is probably not inherently political, but the way it is going to be digested in the cinema post-festival may have political implications for people and open their eyes and minds and hearts to situations that are going on around the world. But this is not the Nobel peace prize, it is the Palme d’Or, so it’s a slightly different function,” she said.

This year’s Cannes film festival runs until 19 May and features new films from directors such as Spike Lee, Jean-Luc Godard and Lars von Trier, as well as a premiere of the new Star Wars spin-off film Solo.