This morning, the composition of the jury of the 2018 Cannes International Film Festival was finally unveiled. While waiting for the opening ceremony which will take place on the 8th of May and will be hosted by French actor Edouard Baer, OOK magazine gives you the great names in cinema that will have to judge the movies this year.
© Gage Skidmore
Under the direction of the wonderful Australian actress Cate Blanchett, who met great success in Cannes in such movies as Carol (2015) or Babel (2006) and who was chosen to preside the jury; eight major figures of the cinema world – four women and four men, as usual – will have the tough assignment of establishing the list of award-winning movies.
This year again, the jury will include two American stars: Ava DuVernay, who is worldly well-known for having directed Selma (2016), and Kristen Stewart who became famous in the Twilight saga and starred in many films presented in Cannes such as Clouds of Sils Maria (2015) or Personal Shopper (2016). French actress Léa Seydoux, who won the Palme dOr with Abdellatif Kechiche and Adèle Exarchopoulos in 2013 for La Vie d’Adèle, and French filmmaker Robert Guédiguian, who directed about twenty movies including Marius et Jeannette (1997) and The Villa (2017), will be judges too. Chinese actor Chang Chen, who notably played in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), will represent Asian cinema. Africa will be represented by Burundian musician Khadja Nin who is also Good Will Ambassador for UNICEF. Canadian moviemaker Denis Villeneuve, who won two Oscars for Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev, who was awarded the Jury Prize in Cannes last year for Loveless, will also be part of this exceptional jury.
It is also worth noting that Benicio Del Toro will be the president of the jury of the Un Certain Regard category (which awards movies that the selection committee wishes to support but outside the official competition). Swiss filmmaker Ursula Meier will lead the jury of the Caméra d’Or (which will have to choose the best first film).
All this promises a very glamorous festival. We really can’t wait for the 8th of May!