Master director Park Chan-wook is set to lead the 79th Cannes Film Festival as the jury president! The full jury has been confirmed, featuring nine legendary figures from the film world, including global stars like Demi Moore and Stellan Skarsgård, as well as Academy Award winner Chloe Zhao.
The Cannes Film Festival secretariat recently announced the competition jury members. Alongside Park Chan-wook, the panel includes Hollywood star Demi Moore, Ethiopian-Irish actor and producer Ruth Negga, Belgian director Laura Vandewalle, Chinese-American director Chloe Zhao, Chilean director Diego Céspedes, Ivorian actor Isaac de Bankolé, Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty, and Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård.
The festival also shared detailed biographies for each member. Specifically, they praised Director Park Chan-wook, stating, “His work embodies the DNA of contemporary Korean cinema. He is unconventional yet audience-friendly and ambitious, filled with calculated provocations, and sophisticated without being overly intellectual.”
Director Park and the eight other jurors will evaluate 22 films in the competition section. This year’s lineup includes “Hope” by Korea’s director Na Hong-jin, “Sheep in the Box” by Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, “Suddenly the Condition Worsens” by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Bitter Christmas” by Spain’s Pedro Almodóvar, “Paper Tiger” by USA’s James Gray, and “Fjord” by Romania’s Cristian Mungiu.
The 79th Cannes Film Festival will take place from the 12th to the 23rd in the resort city of Cannes, France. For Korean cinema, Na Hong-jin’s “Hope” is in the competition section, while Yeon Sang-ho’s “Colony” has been invited to the Midnight Screening. Additionally, “Rhapsody of the Bird” by director Choi Won-jung (a graduate of Hongik University) will be in the La Cinef student short film competition, and Jung Ju-ri’s “Dora” will be featured in the Directors’ Fortnight parallel section.
