It's a first. Just one year after his coronation, Swedish director Ruben Östlund was named president of the jury at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. He takes over from French actor Vincent Lindon, who, together with his jury, awarded the Palme d'Or to his latest film, Without Filter, five years after his first award with The Square.
Ruben Östlund will have to choose the Palme d'or from among the twenty films in competition, which are to be unveiled soon. He will be supported by several jurors, whose names will also be revealed soon.
"I am happy, proud and humbled to be entrusted with the honor of presiding over the Cannes Film Festival jury this year. No other place in the world sparks such a desire for cinema when the curtain goes up on a film in competition,” the 48-year-old filmmaker said in the statement.
He becomes, after the American Francis Ford Coppola and the Franco-Serbian Emir Kusturica, the third doubly palmed filmmaker to become president of the jury, and the very first to take on this role the year following his coronation, specifies the press release.
The director rose to stardom with Snow Therapy (2014), a film that debunks the modern family with a father fleeing an avalanche, his mobile phone in hand, but leaving his children in danger. The film won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard category at Cannes.
In 2017, he made the audience of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes scream with joy by winning the Palme d'Or for The Square. For this film, he had surrounded himself with the American Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), the Briton Dominic West (The Wire) and the Danish Claes Bang, who holds the leading role. Five years later, he won a new Palme d'Or with Without filter, a satire of the super-rich and luxury.
The Cannes Film Festival is considered one of the biggest film festivals in the world, alongside the Berlinale in Berlin and the Venice Film Festival. During their last edition, these two festivals appointed two women, respectively Kristen Stewart and Julianne Moore, to head their jury. The last president of the Cannes jury dates back to 2018, with Australian Cate Blanchett.
