Alejandro G Inarritu will be this year’s Cannes Film Festival jury president, organisers have announced.
The Mexican filmmaker, who won back-to-back best director Oscars in 2014-15 for Birdman and The Revenant, said he is “humbled” to have been appointed to the role.
In a statement, he said: “Cannes is a festival that has been important to me since the beginning of my career.
“I am humbled and thrilled to return this year with the immense honour of presiding over the jury.
“Cinema runs through the veins of the planet, and this festival has been its heart. We on the jury will have the privilege to witness the new and excellent work of fellow filmmakers from all over the planet.
“This is a true delight and a responsibility that we will assume with passion and devotion.”
President of the festival Pierre Lescure and its artistic director Thierry Fremau praised Inarritu as “not only a daring filmmaker and a director who is full of surprises” but also “a man of conviction, an artist of his time”.
Inarritu, 55, takes over the title from Australia actress Cate Blanchett, who oversaw the jury at the 71st running of the festival where Japanese film Shoplifters, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, won the Palme d’Or.
Blanchett also memorably led a parade of 82 women up the red carpet to protest against gender inequality in the entertainment industry.
The 72nd Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 14 to 25.
