I am stunned and thrilled: Greta Gerwig to serve as Jury president for Cannes Film Festival 2024

CANNES: The Cannes Film Festival revealed that 'Barbie' director Greta Gerwig will serve as the head of its upcoming festival jury, reported People. The 40-year-old Gerwig was commended by the festival's organisers in a message on their website for "a year in which she beat every record with her film Barbie."

"I love films," Gerwig said in a statement. "I love making them, I love going to them, I love talking about them. As a cinephile, Cannes has always been the pinnacle of what the universal language of movies can be."

"Being in a place of vulnerability, in a dark theater filled with strangers, watching a brand-new film is my favorite place to be. I am stunned and thrilled and humbled to be serving as the president of the Cannes Film Festival Jury. I cannot wait to see what journeys are in store for all of us." The festival archives reveal that Gerwig's selection also sets a number of firsts for the event. She will lead the jury for the first time as an American woman director. Additionally, she will be the youngest president since Sophia Loren, who was thirty-one in 1966. She is just the 12th woman to lead the panel (the previous two times being French actress Jeanne Moreau).

As per People, Gerwig is also just the second female director since the festival began in 1946 to be named and the second American woman. Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland was the first female to serve as President in 1965.

"This is an obvious choice," said Festival President Iris Knobloch and General Delegate Thierry Fremaux, "since Greta Gerwig so audaciously embodies the renewal of world cinema, for which Cannes is each year both the forerunner and the sounding board." They added, "Beyond the 7th Art, she is also the representative of an era that is breaking down barriers and mixing genres, and thereby elevating the values of intelligence and humanism."

The most nominated film for the forthcoming Critics Choice and Golden Globe Awards is Gerwig's 'Barbie'. The 77th Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to begin May 14. The jury's awards, including the Palme d'Or, will be announced at its closing ceremony on May 25, reported People.