Oscar-nominated Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki will serve as a jury member at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, which will run from May 14 to May 25. Known for her films including 'Caramel' and 'Where Do We Go Now', Labaki courted global fame after she won big at Cannes 2018 for 'Cappernaum'. The Oscar-nominated Middle Eastern talent won the coveted Jury Prize.
Labaki was also nominated for a Golden Globe and Oscar for 2018's 'Capernaum'. The director is also an accomplished actress and has starred in movies such as 'Perfect Strangers'.
She isn't alone. Oscar-nominated actor Lily Gladstone, who won a string of awards for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s 2023 “Killers of the Flower Moon” will also be a part of the jury panel. At 37 years old, she will be the youngest member of the jury.
They will join a jury, led by “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig, at this year’s festival on France’s Cote d’Azur.
French actors Omar Sy, recently seen in 'Lupin', and Eva Green, who has alternated between Hollywood films such as 'Casino Royale' and concept flicks like 'Proxima', are also members.
Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona, another Oscar nominee for "Society of the Snow", Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino, known for "World War Z", and Japanese director and 2018 Palme d'Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda round out the nine on the jury.
The jury is tasked with selecting the winner of the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize, from a selection of 22 films that include the return of Francis Ford Coppola with his long-awaited epic, “Megalopolis”.
A biopic of Donald Trump, 'The Apprentice', by Iran-born director Ali Abbasi, is also in the running.
Sy is one of the biggest names in French cinema, known internationally for hit Netflix show 'Lupin'.
Green was one of the most memorable James Bond actors ('Casino Royale') and has appeared in a string of Hollywood blockbusters.
The jury also includes Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, who won the 2018 Palme d’Or for “Shoplifters”, Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino, Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona, Lebanese director Nadine Labaki and Turkish screenwriter Ebru Ceylan.
There have also been some late additions to the festival’s line-up in recent days.
They include 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' by Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, who has faced prison time for criticising the government. It is unclear if he will be able to attend the festival.
Oliver Stone will present his latest documentary, “Lula”, about the current president of Brazil, out of competition.
And Emma Stone will team up again with Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos in 'Kinds of Kindness'.
'Poor Things', their 2023 collaboration, won Lanthimos the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, while Stone picked up an Oscar for Best Actress.
Writer-director Paul Schrader reunites with Richard Gere for 'Oh Canada', and Oscar-winner Paolo Sorrentino pens another love letter to his native Naples with 'Parthenope', starring Gary Oldman.
France’s own Jacques Audiard, a past winner of the Palme d’Or, is back with 'Emilia Perez', billed as a musical comedy about a Mexican cartel boss undergoing a sex-change operation. Pop star-actor Selena Gomez appears in a supporting role.
But all eyes will be on Coppola’s 'Megalopolis', marking the return of 'The Godfather' director to Cannes at the age of 85.
He has twice won the Palme d’Or — for 'The Conversation' (1974) and, controversially, for 'Apocalypse Now' (1979), which was not even finished when it premiered at the festival.
