Cate Blanchett only the 9th Actress to Preside over Cannes!
Thursday, January 4, 2018 at 12:25PM by Nathaniel R
Pedro Almodóvar was always going to be a tough act to follow. So surprise, Cannes went with an actress instead of a director to head its 71st annual event (May 8th through 19th, 2018). We're sure Pedro would approve, being the big Actressexual that he is. Actresses are more common than actors for this honor but the bulk of the Main Competition jury presidents are famous auteurs. Cate the Great will only be the 9th actress to preside (for the tenth such occurence). She's also only the second Australian after director George Miller reigned in 2016.
The only actresses to have previously presided over the main Cannes jury
- Olivia de Havilland (UK) in 1965
- Sophia Loren (Italy) in 1966
- Michele Morgan (France) in 1971
- Ingrid Bergman (Sweden) in 1973
- Jeanne Moreau (France) in 1975 and 1995
- Isabelle Adjani (France) in 1997
- Liv Ullman (Norway) in 2001
- Isabelle Huppert (France) in 2009
This is a smart move on Cannes part given the criticism they often receive about their exclusionary nature. Now if they could only address that problem within their actual lineup. Other A list festivals have definitely made greater strides about including female directors in their competitive lineups. At Cannes they're still often relegated to "Un Certain Regard" or whatnot.
Reader Comments (31)
I thought Streep also did. Or was that another event?
That was Berlinale.
So all white women and 1/2 were by Frenchwomen. Call me when it's someone like
Ava DuVernay.
I don't see the need to mention skin colour,this is were hysteria comes from on the net,bringing that up doesn't add to the conversation which is about Blanchett's appointment.
Such amazing cinephile news.
I am over the moon! My Queen is going to slay the red carpet for sure!
The best news of 2018 so far! I really hope that Cannes and all major festivals now have a policy where there should be female jury presidents at least every other year and not every 5 years. Binoche, Bigelow, Denis and Coppola would all make worthy jury presidents. I wonder if Australian Jennifer Kent's new film will be submitted to Cannes?
grrr
Meryl Streep was president of the jury at the Berlin Film Festival 2016. More recently Annette Bening was president of the jury at the Venice Film Festival 2017.
Looking at the list of presidents of the Cannes jury I am surprised that Catherine Deneuve is not on the list.
de Havilland is a US actress.
Marguerite - Born in Japan to British parents, actually. And now she lives in France so she was always quite the international woman. But for Cannes listing purposes (at least on Wikipedia) she is considered to be from Great Britain.
A great choice, though I assumed the next woman president would be either Binoche or Kidman.
de Havilland holds dual US/UK citizenship, à la Liz Taylor. Born in Japan, raised in California, retired in France. Her film success was exclusively in the US, though.
Tyler -- yeah, i thought Binoche might have been selected by now. Strange that Deneuve never has (perhaps she turned it down?) considering she was inarguably France's most famous export of the second half of the 20th century.
Marguerite -- i'm just going by how she's listed for them and original citizenship though I think Olivia would argue that she's French ;)
Nothing but respect for my president.
It is strange to think that Catherine Deneuve rejects Cannes but accepts Venice. Maybe if there have been problems due to previous commitments, who knows?
Speaking of rejections a very famous one was in 2001 when Jodie Foster refused to be president of the jury due to the filming of Panic Room and was replaced by Liv Ullman. Strange (or maybe not) that they did not ask Foster again.
Nathaniel, I think Binoche has not been President yet because she almost always has films in competition at Cannes. This year she is in new films by three presumably Cannes bound directors; Claire Denis, Naomi Kawase and Olivier Assayas.
Thanks Hormodio.
Catherine Deneuve was designated Vice President of the Cannes jury the year Clint Eastwood was President (1994).
Please @Edward L, you know if the characters in 3 Billboards were Latino or Black, white audiences, in general, would you saying, "Why don't these people have respect for our justice system? Why can't they practice forgiveness". I totally understand anger at injustice but it seems that the respect /sympathy for anger expressed seems to fall along racialized lines.
FUCK YEAH!!!!!! Cate Blanchett. I hope she gets to wear some cool clothes like a gown one night and then a suit as if she's a dude.
Marsha: I think your reply is for someone else. I haven't said anything about Three Billboards or skin colour.
thevoid99: It's not like you to swear! ☺
I think the enormous success and global media coverage of Nicole Kidman at 2017 Cannes probably played a part in this decision. The fact that it was almost unofficially dubbed "the Nicole Kidman Film Festival" because of all her entries made it one of the more memorable Cannes
Thierry Fremaux may feel that if they can't exactly top a Kidman dominant year, getting Australias's 2nd best actress in Blanchett (after Kidman) in a high profile role might allow the festival to recapture some lightining in a bottle. Good luck with that because Blanchett is no Kidman, but it's worth a try I say.
All I need to know is wether she's bringing Where did you go Bernadette?
I hope she invites Winslet to the jury! And Kathryn Bigelow! And Greta Gerwig, Dee Rees, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penélope Cruz, Sofia Coppola, Patty Jenkins, Marion Cotillard, list go on and on and on.
@illio Cate can act circles around Nicole
@grrr
LOL!
I like Cate, but that's ridiculous. Blanchett is an excellent mimic and a theatrical ham (which can be enjoyable some circumstances). Kidman is sublime in her control and judgement. She knows exactly when to dial it down and serve the wishes or needs or her director. Kidman can also ham it up (see Paddington), but only if it's absolutely neccesary and makes sense. Ham is literally Blanchett's default mode.
The notion of Blanchett in something like Eyes Wide Shut or The Killing Of A Sacred Deer or Birth that require razor edge finnesse and subtlety is abhorent and ludicrious. Blanchett would completey destroy all those movies with engergised bug-eyed theatrics, because that's what "acting" is to her. An opportunity to show off another accent and project to the cheap seats. Cate's technique is designed to impress the easily impressed.
Cate is very talented in her own way, but Nicole operates on another level.
They're both great. Do these conversations always need to turn into an Actress A is better than Actress B showdown?
Anyway, it's great news that Blanchett will preside over Cannes.
Is this good news or bad news for von Trier if his movie gets in the official selection?
I hope she wears antlers, like her Thor: Ragnarok character.
Kidman and Blanchett are both extraordinary.
Cate, somehow, for some reason, impresses me more. Consistently so.
Illio- watch Cate the Great in The Gift and get back to us. Or The Talented Mr Ripley. She is not always hamming it up. At least she didn’t star in The Invasion like Nicole did lol.