Ava DuVernay, Kristen Stewart, Denis Villeneuve, Chang Chen, Robert Guédiguian, Khadja Nin, Léa Seydoux and Andrey Zvyagintsev have been named members of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival Jury.
They will join Cate Blanchett, who was previously named president of the jury at the 71st Cannes Film Festival.
During the era of #MeToo and #TimesUp, the jury is made up of five women and four men, only the third time that women have made up a majority of the jury. All three times have come in the last 10 years.
The jurors are of seven nationalities and from five continents.
Blanchett marks the first female jury president since Jane Campion served in 2014. Other women to take on the role this century include Oscar nominee Isabelle Huppert and Liv Ullmann. It is the 12th time in festival history a woman has headed the jury. Director, screenwriter and actress Jeanne Moreau served twice, with all others putting in one year each.
The Cannes Film Festival will take over the south of France from May 8-19.
See the full bios for the jury members courtesy of the festival organizers below.
Chang Chen – Chinese actor
Chang Chen made his film debut in the late Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day. He rose to fame in the Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in 2000. His film credits include “Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together” (1997), 2046 (2004), “The Grandmaster” (2013), Hou Hsiao-hsien’s “Three Times” (2005) and “The Assassin” (2015), Tian Zhuangzhuang’s “The Go Master” (2006) John Woo’s “Red Cliff” (2008-2009) “The Last Supper” directed by Lu Chuan (2012). In 2017, he returned for Yang Lu’s film Brotherhood of “Blades II” and recently played in “Forever Young” by Fangfang Li.
Ava DuVernay – American writer, director, producer
Nominated for the Academy Award and Golden Globe and winner of the BAFTA and EMMY, Ava DuVernay is a writer, director, producer and film distributor known for the historical drama “Selma” (2014), the criminal justice documentary “13th” (2016) and the recent Disney cinematic adaptation of the classic children’s novel A wrinkle in Time. Winner of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival’s Best Director Prize for her film “Middle of Nowhere,” DuVernay amplifies the work of people of color and women directors through her film collective ARRAY.
Robert Guédiguian – French director, writer, producer
The work of Robert Guédiguian, an activist filmmaker, celebrates the city of Marseille where he grew up. Acclaimed by critics when he first started directing in the 80s, he met public success with Marius and Jeannette, which won the Prix Louis-Delluc in 1997.
His film credits include “Marie-Jo et ses deux amours” (2002) “Le Promeneur du Champ de Mars” (2004) “Le Voyage en Arménie” (2007) “Lady Jane” (2008) “L’armée du crime” (2009) “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (2011). His latest film in date, “The House by the Sea” (2017), received enthusiastic response from critics and audience.
Khadja Nin – Burundian songwriter, composer, singer
Youngest of a family of eight Khadja Nin studied music at an early age, before leaving Africa to go to Europe. Her albums are a mix of occidental popmusic, African and afro-cuban rhythms. She gained wide recognition and success with “Sambolera Mayi Son.” “Ya…” (“From me to you”) is a wonderful tribute to Mandela and the video of her song “Mama” was directed by Jeanne Moreau. International Artist, she became a Unicef and ACP Observatory on Migration Good Will Ambassador. She was awarded the Prize “Prix de l’Action Feminine” by the African Women’s League in 2016. She has been committed to support ordinary heroes.
Léa Seydoux – French actress
Rising to fame with Christophe Honoré’s “The Beautiful Person” in 2008, Léa Seydoux is an award-winning actress, notably the Palme d’Or for Abdelatif Kechiche’s “Blue is the Warmest Colour” in 2013. She successfully alternates between author and mainstream films. Her film credits include Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Dear Prudence” and “Grand Central,” Benoît Jacquot’s “Farewell, My Queen” and “Diary of a Chambermaid,” Bertrand Bonello’s “Saint Laurent,” Sam Mendes’ “Spectre,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Lobster” and Xavier Dolan’s “It’s Only the End of the World.”
Kristen Stewart – American actress
Kristen Stewart has been playing roles since an early age and received widespread recognition in 2008 for “The Twilight Saga” film series (2008-12). Her film credit includes “Snow White and the Huntsman” (2012), “Equals” by Drake Doremus (2015) “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” by Ang Lee (2016), and several Festival de Cannes Selections such as “On the Road” by Walter Salles (2012) “Clouds of Sils Maria” (2014) and “Personal Shopper” (2016) both by Olivier Assayas (2014) as well as “Café Society” by Woody Allen. She directed her first short film “Come Swim” in 2017.
Denis Villeneuve – Canadian director, writer
Internationally renowned and recently two-time Academy Award winner for “Blade Runner 2049,” Denis Villeneuve made his debut at the National Film Board of Canada in the early 90’s. His first feature, “Un 32 août sur Terre” (1998) was invited to Cannes. He returned there with “Next Floor” (2008), “Polytechnique” (2009) and the Oscar nominated “Sicario” (2015). In 2010 “Incendies” was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. In 2017, Arrival was nominated for 8 Oscars and 9 BAFTAs, including best movie and best director.
Andreï Zvyagintsev – Russian director, writer
Multi-award winning filmmaker Andreï Zvyagintsev has already become one of the most respected directors in Russian and international cinema. He directed his first feature film in 2003 The Return which won him a “Golden Lion” at the Venice Film Festival. He has continued to write and direct award-winning feature films “The Banishment” (2007), “Elena” (2011) and “Leviathan” (2014). His most recent film “Loveless” won the Jury Prize at the 2017 Festival de Cannes, and was among the nominees at the Golden Globe and 90th Academy Awards.