The festival underwent multiple reschedules last year and an eventual cancellation due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Cannes International Film Festival has chosen filmmaker Spike Lee as the President of the Jury for this year’s event. The Official Selection and the composition of the jury will be unveiled in early June. Lee will award the Palme d’Or at the closing ceremony on Saturday, July 17, along other members of the jury.
A statement issued by the Cannes committee said: “Festival de Cannes inaugurates this new decade with an outstanding President of the Jury, one of the greatest directors of his generation, as well as a screenwriter, actor, editor and producer. For 30 years, the tireless Spike Lee has been an astute chronicler of the questionings of his time, with a resolutely contemporary approach that’s never without a dash of levity and entertainment.”
Pierre Lescure, President of the Festival commented: “Throughout the months of uncertainty we’ve just been through, Spike Lee has never stopped encouraging us. This support is finally coming to fruition and we could not have hoped for a more powerful personality to chart our troubled times.”
Expressing his pleasure, Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate remarked: “His enthusiasm and passion for cinema has given us a huge boost of energy to prepare the great Festival that everybody has been awaiting for. The party will be great, we simply can’t wait!”
The festival, which is hosting its 74th edition this year, will be held from July 6 to 17 later this summer.
