Alejandro González Iñárritu announced as… | Little White Lies

Festivals

Ale­jan­dro González Iñár­ritu announced as Pres­i­dent of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival

27 Feb 2019

Words by Adam Woodward

Curly-haired man in black jacket looking serious, surrounded by camera crew.
Curly-haired man in black jacket looking serious, surrounded by camera crew.
The acclaimed direc­tor becomes the first Mex­i­can artist to receive the honour.

With awards sea­son done and dust­ed for anoth­er year, the film world now turns its atten­tions to the next major event on the cal­en­dar: the Cannes Film Festival.

For its 72nd edi­tion, the fes­ti­val has today announced that direc­tor Ale­jan­dro González Iñár­ritu will pre­side over the main com­pe­ti­tion jury – the first time a Mex­i­can artist has received this hon­our. He suc­ceeds Cate Blanchett, whose jury award­ed the Palme d’Or to Hirokazu Koreeda’s Shoplifters in 2018.

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Iñár­ritu has described Cannes as, ​“a fes­ti­val that has been impor­tant to me since the begin­ning of my career. 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.”

The direc­tor is no stranger to Cannes, hav­ing brought his debut fea­ture Amores Per­ros to the Crit­ics’ Week side­bar back in 200o. Since then he’s returned to the fes­ti­val on numer­ous occa­sions, most notably in 2006 when he left the Croisette clutch­ing the Best Direc­tor Award for Babel. His fol­low-up, Biu­ti­ful, earned Javier Bar­dem the Best Actor Award at Cannes in 2010.

Fes­ti­val Pres­i­dent Pierre Les­cure and Gen­er­al Del­e­gate Thier­ry Fré­maux have released a joint state­ment express­ing their delight that Iñár­ritu has accept­ed their invi­ta­tion: ​“It is very rare for Ale­jan­dro to agree to take part in a jury, and this is the first time that the Fes­ti­val de Cannes Jury is to be chaired by a Mex­i­can artist. Cannes embraces all types of cin­e­ma, and through the pres­ence of [this] direc­tor, it is Mex­i­can cin­e­ma that the Fes­ti­val will be celebrating.”

Fol­low­ing Alfon­so Cuarón’s Best Direc­tor tri­umph at this year’s Acad­e­my Awards, this pos­i­tive state­ment seems dou­bly sig­nif­i­cant at a time when a cer­tain world leader con­tin­ues to vil­lainise Mex­i­co and its people.

The 72nd Cannes Film Fes­ti­val takes place from Tues­day 14 to Sat­ur­day 25 May. For more info vis­it fes​ti​val​-cannes​.com

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