Gathered around their president Juliette Binoche, the jury of the 78th Cannes Film Festival – which begins on 13 May – are a truly international panel, hailing from the Americas, Asian and African continents. They're tasked with choosing which one of the 22 films in competition walks away with the Palme d'Or and a myriad of other prizes. So who are they?
Juliette Binoche came to the Croisette in 1985 for her first major role in the film Rendez-vous by André Téchiné. Forty years later, the actress is one of the most internationally known French stars, thanks to collaborations with the biggest names in cinema including Michael Haneke, David Cronenberg and Abbas Kiarostami, to name a few.
A committed and eclectic actress both on stage and screen, the 61-year-old has appeared in more than 60 films and won the industry's greatest awards – notably Best Actress Award at Cannes for Certified Copy in 2010 and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The English Patient in 1996.
She was last in Cannes in 2024 to present the Honorary Palme d’Or to American actress Meryl Streep, whom she affectionately called "the dancing queen".
The year before, Binoche presented The Taste of Things (La Passion de Dodin Bouffant) with Benoît Magimel, directed by Tran Anh Hung, who won Best Director. It was also shortlisted for the Oscars as France’s international film entry.
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Whipping up a storm
Halle Berry broke a glass ceiling in 2002 by becoming the first African American to win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Marc Forster's Monster’s Ball.
A glamour icon, the 58-year-old actress dabbled in independent cinema, making a name for herself with Spike Lee (Jungle Fever, 1991), but has tended to be more involved in blockbusters, playing a Bond girl in Die Another Day (2003), Catwoman in 2004, and the mutant Storm in the X-Men saga.
In 2020, she stepped behind the camera for the first time, directing Bruised, in which she plays a returning MMA fighter.
Korea on the Croisette
A prolific filmmaker and master of pared-down style, South Korean Hong Sangsoo, 64, is a regular at the Croisette.
Four of his films have been honored in the official competition, including Woman Is the Future of Man (2004), and four others have been selected for the Un Certain Regard section.
Over the past five years, he has shot seven films and is currently working on a feature film entitled At the Middle of Life.
Award-winning author
French-Moroccan novelist Leïla Slimani is a unique member of this Cannes jury – the only one whose work has no direct connection to film, even though her book Chanson douce, winner of the prestigious Prix Goncourt in France in 2016, was adapted for the big screen.
A bestselling author and a prominent figure in the French literary world, Slimani, 43, also co-wrote the memorable and much-discussed opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, with director Thomas Jolly.
Strong man
In 2024, Jeremy Strong made his mark at Cannes as Donald Trump's New York mentor in The Apprentice, presented in the official competition.
Acclaimed on the Croisette, his portrayal of conservative lawyer Roy Cohn earned him Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.
The 46-year-old American actor, who has appeared in films for James Gray, Kathryn Bigelow and Steven Spielberg, has also distinguished himself on stage and in the hit HBO series Succession, for which he won an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
Indian eye
Indian director and screenwriter Payal Kapadia wowed the Cannes jury in 2024, winning the Grand Prix with All We Imagine as Light, her first feature-length fiction film.
A celebration of friendship, coupled with a declaration of love for Mumbai, it allowed India to return to the Cannes competition after a 30-year absence.
The 39-year-old filmmaker previously made a name for herself with her documentary work, notably All Night Without Knowing (2021) about the melancholy of an Indian film student.
Olé Mexico
At 53, director and screenwriter Carlos Reygadas embodies Mexico's thriving cinema scene, alongside Alejandro González Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón.
A proponent of demanding cinema, heavily influenced by Russian master Andrei Tarkovsky, Reygadas has forged a special connection with the Cannes Film Festival.
He won the Caméra d'Or Special Mention for his debut film, Japon (2002), the Jury Prize for Silent Light (2007), and the Best Director Prize for Post Tenebras Lux (2012).
Sister act
An Italian actress with an international reputation, Alba Rohrwacher, 46, first rose to prominence working for her compatriots Luca Guadagnino and Marco Bellocchio.
She expanded her international reach under the direction of French director Arnaud Desplechin and American director Noah Baumbach.
A regular at the Cannes Film Festival, she has presented several films in competition alongside her sister, director Alice Rohrwacher, including The Marvels (Grand Prix 2014). Alice Rohrwacher is president of this year's Caméra d’Or jury.
Kinshasa to Cannes
Congolese director Dieudo Hamadi, 41, brought the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the Croisette in 2020 when his documentary Downstream to Kinshasa was in the official selection.
The film, which denounced the plight of victims of armed conflict who faced the indifference of their rulers, established his status as an uncompromising observer of the turmoil in a country gripped by long-standing, deadly conflict in the east.
Two short films, made in 2009 and 2010, highlighted his work, which has since been acclaimed at several festivals.
In total, the jury will hand out seven main prizes at the closing ceremony on 24 May, including Best Actress and Actor.
Follow all the action of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival with RFI.
(with AFP)
