Cannes Film Festival 2019: Golden jury will decide who gets the Golden Palm this year

Lebanese director-actor Nadine Labaki heads the jury for Un Certain Regard section.

Iñárritu, who takes over from Australian actor Cate Blanchett, the jury president last year, first came to Cannes with his debut film Amores Perros, which was screened in the Critic's Week parallel section. He competed for the Palme d'Or with his third feature film, Babel, in 2006, winning the festival's Best Director prize. “Cannes is a festival that has been important to me since the beginning of my career," said the director of Biutiful, Birdman and The Revenant. "We on the jury will have the privilege to witness the new and excellent work of fellow filmmakers from all over the planet. This is a true delight and a responsibility, that we will assume with passion and devotion.”

Un Certain Regard jury headed by Nadine Labaki also has German producer Nurhan Sekerci-Porst, who co-founded with director Fatih Akin the production house Bombero International.

The nine-member competition jury has four women, emphasising the festival's pledge for gender equality. 20th Century Women actor Elle Fanning (US), Burkina Faso actor-director Maimouna N'Diaye, Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher, who won the Best Screenplay award in Cannes last year for Happy as Lazzaro, and American director-screenwriter-editor Kelly Reichardt will be joining Iñárritu. The jury also has Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, who directed Dogtooth, The Lobster, and The Favourite, which received ten Oscar nominations this year. The other jury members include Cold War director Paweł Pawlikowski (Poland), French filmmaker Robin Campillo, who directed 120 Beats Per Minute, and French graphic novelist and director Enki Bilal.

Nadine Labaki, whose powerful Beirut drama Capernaum was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar this year, will succeed Puerto Rican actor Benicio Del Toro as the president of Un Certain Regard jury. "I remember back when I used to come to Cannes as a film student, I was so excited to experience the world's most prestigious festival," said Labaki, who was in Cannes last year with Capernaum to compete for the Palme d'Or.

"Back then, it seemed so out of reach to me. I remember getting up early in the morning and the endless queues to get a ticket. It seems like yesterday, but it was fifteen years ago that I filled in the Festival de Cannes' Cinéfondation registration form, my heart full of hope and my hand shaking," said Labaki, the first woman from the Arab-speaking world to be nominated for an Oscar. "Today, I am the President of the Un Certain Regard Jury, which just goes to show that sometimes life can be even better than your dreams. I can't wait to see the films in the Selection. I can't wait to debate and discuss, to be shaken up, to find inspiration in other artists' work," said Labaki, who is joined on the jury by German producer Nurhan Sekerci-Porst, who co-founded with director Fatih Akin the production house Bombero International, French actor Marina Fois, Argentine director Lisandro Alonso, and Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont.

Rithy Panh, who was discovered by the Cannes festival in 1994 with his debut feature film The Rice People, and his jury will be giving away the Camera d'Or award for the first feature film of a director. The award, won previously by Indian directors Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay!) and Murali Nair (Maranasimhasanam), considers debut movies in Cannes festival's official selection and in parallel sections of Critic's Week and Directors' Fortnight. "I remember my first time in competition at the Festival de Cannes in 1994 with The Rice People," said Panh. "I remember the pride, the faith, the eagerness I felt during the making of the film. Shooting in Cambodia which was just getting back to peace..." he said referring to the genocide in his country.

Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh presides over the Camera d'Or jury for the best first film of a director.

Influential French director Claire Denis, who is known for her films such as Beau Travail, 35 Shots of Rum and High Life, heads the jury for short films and film school productions.

Influential French filmmaker Claire Denis is president of the Short Film, and Cinefondation jury for film school productions.

The jury of Denis will be awarding the best short film with a Palme d'Or. The Cannes film festival will run from May 14 to 25.