PARIS (Reuters) – French singer Mylene Farmer, U.S. actress and screenwriter Maggie Gyllenhaal and Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho will sit on the jury set to award the top movie prize at the Cannes Film Festival in July, organisers said on Thursday.
“Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X” director Spike Lee was named jury president in 2020, when the Cannes cinema showcase was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is set to head up the 2021 edition, which was moved from May to July.
Easing coronavirus restrictions are raising hopes that international stars will be able to travel to the French Riviera for the glitzy fortnight of film premieres, which culminates in the top Palme d’Or award for best movie.
The 2021 jury also includes French-Senegalese director Mati Diop, whose debut feature “Atlantic” won a top award at the 2019 Cannes festival, and French actor Tahar Rahim, known for his role in Jacques Audiard’s “The Prophet”.
Austrian film director Jessica Hausner, French actress and director Melanie Laurent and South Korean actor Song Kang-ho, one of the stars of “Parasite”, which won the 2019 Palme d’Or, will also be on the jury.
(Reporting by Sarah White; Editing by Robert Birsel)
