Calling her “a heroine of our modern times,” the Cannes Film Festival announced that Greta Gerwig has been named president of the 2024 Festival jury.
“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,” Gerwig said in a statement Wednesday night. “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!”
The appointment caps a huge year for Gerwig, who became the first-ever solo female director to notch a billion-dollar box office take for her acclaimed comedy “Barbie” over the summer. She’s also a three-time Oscar nominee — she was a Best Director and Best Original Screenplay contender for her 2017 film “Lady Bird,” and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay again for her 2019 adaptaion of “Little Women.” She’s also considered likely for several nominations next year for “Barbie.”
“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,” Cannes Festival President Iris Knobloch General Delegae Thierry Frémaux said in a joint statement. “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.”
The 77th Cannes Film Festival takes place May 14-25, 2024.
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