Greta Gerwig is the first American Female director to be the Jury President.

Greta Gerwig is one of the most talented and successful directors in Hollywood. Her last film, Barbie, is the highest-grossing film of 2023 and the 14th highest-grossing film of all time. As a result, the Cannes Film Festival named her Jury President for the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

“This is an obvious choice, since Greta Gerwig so audaciously embodies the renewal of world cinema, for which Cannes is each year both the forerunner and the sounding board”, said Iris Knobloch, Festival President, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate. “Beyond the 7th Art, she is also the representative of an era that is breaking down barriers and mixing genres, and thereby elevating the values of intelligence and humanism.”

Greta expressed her happiness by saying, “I love films – I love making them, I love going to them, I love talking about them. As a cinephile, Cannes has always been the pinnacle of what the universal language of movies can be. Being in the place of vulnerability, in a dark theatre filled with strangers, watching a brand-new film is my favorite place to be. I am stunned and thrilled and humbled to be serving as the president of the Cannes Film Festival Jury. I cannot wait to see what journeys are in store for all of us!”

With this, she became the first American Female director to be the Jury President. Moreover, she is the second youngest to be the Jury President at the age of 40. Sophia Loren was the youngest, who became the Jury President at 31 in 1966.

The 77th Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 14 to May 25, 2024.

Published by HOLR Magazine