French actress Juliette Binoche has been named today (4 Feb ’25) as Jury President for this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which will be held in May 2025. Juliette is known to international audiences thanks to her starring roles in movies like ‘The English Patient’ and ‘Chocolat’.
The 2025 festival will mark exactly 40 years since Juliette (60) first appeared on La Croisette (the famous boulevard that runs from the Palais, where films are screened, along Cannes beachfront).
The jury’s task is to watch all the films in the official selection of the 78th Festival de Cannes, and select the winner of the coveted Palme d’Or, which will be presented in a glittering ceremony at the Palais on the final evening, 24 May.
Last year’s president was American director Greta Gerwig (who directed one of the biggest hits of the decade, ‘Barbie’). The will be the second time in its history that one woman in film passes on the prestigious jury president torch to another.
Juliette said:
“I’m looking forward to sharing these life experiences with the members of the Jury and the public. In 1985, I walked up the steps for the first time with the enthusiasm and uncertainty of a young actress; I never imagined I’d return 40 years later in the honorary role of President of the Jury. I appreciate the privilege, the responsibility and the absolute need for humility.”
In fact Juliette sometimes jokes that she was “born at the Festival de Cannes” because that’s where her career began with her first major role in André Téchiné’s ‘Rendez-vous’, which premiered in Cannes in 1985.
Since then she has starred in approximately 70 films and collaborated with film-makers from around the globe.
Around 10 of her films have featured in the Cannes official selection, including most recently ‘The Taste of Things’ (2023). In 2010 she won the Best Actress award in Cannes for her role in Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s ‘Certified Copy‘.
Juliette has also won several of the most prestigious awards around the world, including an Oscar, Bafta, César, and best actress awards from the Berlin and Venice film festivals.
Apart from her incredible talent and intense love affair with the camera, Juliette is also committed to using her voice to raise awareness about undocumented immigration, education, and human rights in Iran. (She protested in Cannes against the imprisonment of Jafar Panahi, and brandished a placard with his name on stage.)
As the new President of the European Film Academy, Juliette has shared some of her unsettling #MeToo experiences early in her career. She also uses her influence to increase awareness about ecological dangers that threaten our planet.
“Her far-reaching commitments are reminiscent of those of Olivia de Havilland, remembered for challenging the omnipotence of American studios,” said the Festival. “That Hollywood legend was President of the Jury of the Festival de Cannes in 1965, passing the baton for the first time to another woman, also a Cinecittà legend, Sophia Loren, 60 years ago. As in a lengthy, beautiful family line, Juliette Binoche’s presidency at this year’s Festival celebrates and brings together the stars of the past.”
This year’s Cannes Film Festival will run from Tue, May 13, 2025 to Sat, May 24, 2025.
