The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the eight members of the main Competition jury, who will join its previously announced president Ruben Östlund at the 76th edition, running May 16 to 27
They comprise Moroccan director Maryam Touzani, French actor Denis Ménochet, British-Zambian screenwriter and director Rungano Nyoni, American actress and director Brie Larson, American Actor Paul Dano, Afghan writer and filmmaker Atiq Rahimi, Argentinian director and screenwriter Damián Szifrón and director Julia Ducournau.
Like two-time Palme d’Or winner Östlund, most of the jury members have strong Cannes pedigrees.
Having long collaborated on her husband Nabil Ayouch’s films such as Much Loved, Touzani made her feature directorial debut in Cannes Un Certain Regard with Adam in 2019 and returned to the section in 2022 with The Blue Caftan, which made it onto the Oscars long-list in the Best International Film category.
Ménochet’s Cannes credits include Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 Palme d’Or contender Inglourious Basterds. Other Cannes titles include Rebecca Zlotowski’s Grand Central (Un Certain Regard, 2013), Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch (Competition, 2021) and Beasts (Cannes Premiere, 2022).
Nyoni broke out internationally in Cannes in 2017 when her first feature I’m Not A Witch took parallel section Directors’ Fortnight by storm, having been developed with the support of La Résidence du Festival.
Countless projects involving topped by Larson have found financing up and down the Croisette, but jury duty marks the Oscar-winning Room actress and Captain Marvel star’s first official trip to Cannes.
Dano’s many credits include Little Miss Sunshine (2006), There Will Be Blood (2007), Twelve Years A Slave and more recently The Fabelmans. His Cannes titles include Competition titles Youth (2015) and Okja (2017).
Kabul-born, long-time French resident Rahimi made his Cannes debut in Un Certain Regard in 2004 with Earth And Ashes, which he adapted from his own book. His subsequent films included The Patience Stone and Our Lady Of The Nile.
Szifrón broke out internationally as a director in 2014 with his Pedro Almodóvar-produced Cannes Competition title Wild Tales, which went on to be Oscar-nominated in 2015. More recent credits include police thriller To Catch A Killer, starring Shailene Woodley.
France’s Ducournau’s career trajectory is wrapped up in Cannes. Having broken out in Critics’ Week with first film Raw in 2016, she won the Palme d’Or in 2021 for Titane, becoming only the second woman in the festival’s history after Jane Campion to achieve this feat.
The Jury will have the task of awarding the Palme d’Or to one of the 21 films in Competition. Its decision will be unveiled at the awards ceremony on May 27, followed by the closing film Elemental.
