Emir Kusturica. Stephen Frears. Wong Kar-Wai. Sean Penn. What do these men have in common? Yes, they’re all directors, well done. But… yes, they’ve made great films, that too. That’s not what we’re getting at here, so stop coming up with different answers.
For the answer written on Empire’s card is, quite simply, that they have all served as presidents of the Cannes Film Festival’s jury, the group of male and female film glitterati who dole out the prizes in the world’s biggest film festival.
Or, at least they will have all served by the end of May, for that’s when Penn will complete his tour of duty. It was announced today that the American actor, writer, and director will directly follow in Frears’ footsteps by becoming Jury President for this year’s Festival, which will run from May 14-25.
"In the last few years," said Penn in a statement, "it seems there has been a rejuvenation of cinema building worldwide; increasingly thoughtful, provocative, moving, and imaginative films by talented filmmakers: that a new generation of filmmaking may have begun. The Cannes Film Festival has long been the epicenter in the discovery of those new waves of filmmakers from all over the world. I very much look forward to participating in this year's festival as President of the jury."
What does this mean for the films considering entry into competition this year? Well, we’re saying nothing, but if New Line Cinema was thinking of entering raucous laughfest Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay for the Palme D’Or, we’d tell them not to bother, for we’ve got a feeling that this year’s winner might just turn out to be even more ultra-depressing than usual.