Karidja Touré thinks 'Girlhood' will become a landmark movie for French cinema.

The 21-year-old actress stars as Marieme - a young girl living in a rough neighbourhood just outside Paris - in the movie, and she hopes the acclaimed drama will create more opportunities for black performers in France.

Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, she explained: ''In France, there is a lot of black women but we don't really see them in the cinema industry.

'''Girlhood' was the first movie with only black people in France - and we also don't have a lot of black actresses.

''But we find black people everywhere. We can find them in the subway, in schools - in everywhere. But we don't see it in this industry.''

What's more, Karidja said the majority of her heroes are Hollywood actresses, as there are so few black performers working in French cinema.

She shared: ''Sometimes the directors don't really think about mixing their actors or actresses. So it's important because they live here and we grow up in France. That's why I'm always watching American movies, because I don't really find myself in French movies.

''I think that's something that has to change and I hope that after this movie, all of the directors will love to work with black people.''

'Girlhood' is out now on Blu-ray and DVD.