The 2013 Cannes Film Festival jury will be headed by Steven Spielberg and tonight the fest announced the additional members that will sit alongside him and it’s a rather impressive lineup.
Joining Spielberg will be Indian actress Vidya Balan, Japanese director Naomi Kawase, Nicole Kidman whose upcoming Grace of Monaco is expected to enjoy a small preview for press, Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) who has a short film in the Critics’ Week sidebar, French actor/director Daniel Auteuil, recent Oscar-winning director of Life of Pi, Ang Lee, Cristian Mungiu (Beyond the Hills, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) and another recent Oscar-winner in Django Unchained star Christoph Waltz.
The Jury of the 66th Festival de Cannes will decide between the films in Competition to award the Prizes which will be announced during the Closing Ceremony on May 26th — the Palme d’Or being the highlight of the Ceremony.
Perhaps the most noteworthy selection is to see Spielberg and Lee side-by-side after a heated race for Best Director at the Oscars last year with the ultimate prize going to Lee.
Waltz returns to Cannes where he won Best Actor back in 2009 for Quentin Tarantino‘s Inglourious Basterds. Lee has seen both Taking Woodstock and The Ice Storm play in Competition at Cannes before and Nicole Kidman starred in Baz Luhrmann‘s Moulin Rouge!, which played the fest back in 2001 and, perhaps not so ironically, this year Luhrmann’s latest, The Great Gatsby, will serve as the opening night film.
Mungiu is no stranger to Cannes where just last year his film Beyond the Hills won Best Screenplay and it was two years ago when I saw Lynne Ramsay‘s We Need to Talk About Kevin play in Competition and ultimately making my top ten that year.
The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 15-26 and I will be in town for the duration of the festival. If you have not yet checked out the entire selection of films that will be playing, click here.
