In case you missed it yesterday, the legendary Robert de Niro has been selected as President of the Jury of the 64th Cannes Film Festival. Which is nice.
It’ll be De Niro’s third time as Jury President, after two stints in the Eighties. The rest of the jury has yet to be announced, but it’ll be the usual mix of names from the global film community, who’ll be sequestered in a Cannes hotel, far from the madding crowd, where they’ll argue the toss amongst themselves. If De Niro picks up a baseball bat and starts prattling on about ‘enthusiasms’, it’s time to let him win the argument.
“The Cannes Film Festival is a rare opportunity for me as it is one of the oldest and one of the best in the world,” said De Niro in a statement, before doing that thing where he points at your eyes, then points at his eyes. Then he wrinkled his eyes a bit, and added, “You. You. You’re good. No, you. You’re good.”
De Niro, of course, co-founded his own festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, in 2001, and recently added a sister festival, the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, so he knows his arthouse onions. And with Cannes likely to feature films like Terrence Malick’s long-awaited The Tree Of Life this year, he and the rest of the jury will have plenty to talk about. Sadly, Meet The Parents: Little Fockers won’t be up for consideration.
The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 11th to May 22nd. As ever, Empire will be there, bringing you all the latest news, reviews and interviews.