What You Need to Know About the Jury of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival 2019
Exciting news! With just under two weeks to go until Cannes Film Festival, Cannes have announced the jury for this year - and it is one hell of a line-up.
So in case you stumble onto the red carpet and end up in conversation with a panelist, we thought we’d give you the low-down on each of the jury for Cannes’ 72nd edition.
THE JURY
ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ IÑÁRRITU
The first Mexican to serve as Cannes jury president, to be nominated for an Acadamy Award, as well as by the Directors Guild of America for Best Director. His movies often feature interconnected stories and nonlinear narratives, but if you bump into him on La Croissette the movie you absolutely should know about is “The Revenant”. Directing/producing this infamous movie is no mean feat. If you’re in need of a conversation starter perhaps ask him how he made the CGI scene of Leonardo Dicaprio being mauled by a bear so damn realistic!
ELLE FANNING
Ellie is an actress and fashion model born in Georgia who will have only just turned 21 in time for her to step up as a jury member for Cannes 2019. But she did start out very young - acting before she was just three years old you may recognise her as a child from some big movies including ‘Because of Winn-Dixie’ (2005), ‘Babel’ (2006), ‘Phoebe in Wonderland’ (2008) , and ‘Sofia Coppola's Somewhere’ (2010).
The influence to start her career very young was possibly inspired by her older sister actress Dakota Fanning. In fact, her film debut was playing a younger version of her sister’s character in the drama I Am Sam (2001).
In 2014 she starred in the Walt Disney film ‘Maleficent’ alongside Angelina Jolie (yes that’s a photo of a selfie with her on set below). Most recently Ellie has starred in ‘Teen Spirit’ directed by Max Minghella which premiered at Toronto Film Festival last year.
MAIMOUNA N’DIAYE
Maimouna is a Senegalese actress and comedian, who acts mainly in Bukinabe films. In 2016, she received an Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role in ‘Eye of the Storm’ (2015) which premiered in Canada at the 14th Festival Divercine.
KELLY REICHARDT
Reichardt is a screenwriter, director and pioneer for female filmmakers, with a history of success in the industry for the last 25 years. Her very first film back in 1994 ‘River of Grass’ was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards and The Grand Jury Price at Sundance Film Festival. She has since made many well-received films including, some of her credits include ‘Old Joy’, ‘Meek's Cutoff’ which premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival, returning to the 70th edition with ‘Night Moves’ and ‘Certain Women’ which premiered at Sundance. You’d struggle to find a top festival this lady’s films haven’t been to!
ALICE ROHRWACHER
Some longstanding regular Cannes goers may recognise Italian film director Alice for her debut feature ‘Heavenly Body’ which premiered at Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes back in 2011. Last year, Rohracher was back by popular demand with her feature ‘Lazzaro Felice’ which won Best Screenplay and was released on Netflix.
ENKI BILAL
One for the comic book fans, Enki is a French comic book creator, artist and film director. He has over 40 years experience, his first published story dating back to 1972 for a comics magazine ‘Pilote’. He is best known for his ‘Nikopol’ trilogy which took a casual decade to produce. Bilal wrote, and did the artwork for the whole thing. The talent some people have hey!
ROBIN CAMPILLO
A Moroccan-born French screenwriter, editor and film director. He is known for his work on films such as ‘The Class’ (2008), ‘Heading South’ (2005), the French zombie film ‘They Came Back’ (2004), ‘Eastern Boys’ (2013), and ‘Time Out’ (2001). Campillo also works as a screenwriter for television, and when asked about his choice of work he was quoted recently saying “I love to film things that seem impure in cinema'“.
YORGOS LANTHIMOS
Most well-known for his most recent Academy Award nominations ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ for the much talked about British film starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, ‘The Favourite’, the Greek film director Yorgos Lanthimos is definitely one to look out for on the red carpet. His other most recent film was ‘Killing of The Sacred Deer’ and ‘The Lobster’ which also nominated for an Academy Award for ‘Best Screenplay’.
PAWEL PAWLIKOWSKI
Last, but by no means least, Pawel is an inspiration to any filmmaker who has made leaps and bounds from his days in TV doccies, to directing BAFTA award-winning films. He started out as a documentary filmmaker in British television and made a successful transition over to film. His second feature, ‘Last Resort’ (2000), earned him international critical acclaim at numerous festivals, including Toronto and Sundance, and won the 2001 BAFTA award for ‘Most Promising Newcomer in British Film.’ It seems only fitting for Pawlikowski to be on the jury since he took to the stage at Cannes last year winning ‘Best Director’ for his feature ‘Cold War’ which also bagged him two Academy Award nominations.
Written by Arabella Burfitt-Dons, Edited by Kitty Ramsden