Steven Spielberg To Head Cannes Film Festival Jury

As if Spielberg already didn’t have it all, he’s now been selected as president of this year’s Cannes Film Festival jury. Steven Spielberg has actually never done it before, but the head of the festival has been trying to convince him to do it for two years now.

(Photo Credit: Reuters)

In previous years when Spielberg turned it down, they got Robert de Niro and Italian director Nanni Moretti instead. Steven Spielberg‘s first time at the Cannes Film Festival was for his screening of E.T. in 1982. Spielberg also calls the 1982 festival “one of the most vibrant memories of [his] career.” He said, “It is an honor and a privilege to preside over the jury of a festival that proves, again and again, that cinema is the language of the world.”

Spielberg didn’t win the Oscar for Best Director this year (he lost to Ang Lee), but he is however one of the most well-known and talented director’s of film history having created some of the best movie classics to date. The Cannes Film Festival jury decides what prizes go to which films, including the Palme d’Or for the best film shown at the festival. Jury members of the past have included Tim Burton, Sean Penn, Quentin Tarantino, and David Lynch.

The 66th Cannes Film Festival begins March 15 in Cannes, France.