Spike Lee chosen as Jury President for Cannes 2020
Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at 1:48PM 
We were just talking about Cannes’ impact on this year’s Oscars and they went and announced Oscar winner and bonafide cinema legend Spike Lee as the head of the jury for next year’s festival. Lee’s Blackkklansman started its Oscar winning journey at the 2018 festival, and that jury headed by Cate Blanchett awarded it the Grand Prix or 2nd place.
Lee has had a long relationship with Cannes since the 1980s...
His first feature She's Gotta Have It, won the Prix de la Jeunesse in the Director's Fortnight in 1986. Famously many - including Lee - think that Do The Right Thing (1989) was robbed of the Palme D’Or. The jury was divided and half, including Sally Field, chose Lee’s film but ultimately the decider was the jury president who has 2 votes and Wim Wenders chose Steven Soderbergh’s sex, lies and videotape. Other Lee films that played Cannes include Jungle Fever (1991) and Summer of Sam (1999).
Lee with his cast at cannes in 1989
Lee acknowledged this long history with the festival in a statement:
To me the Cannes Film Festival (besides being the most important film festivals in the world — no disrespect to anybody) has had a great impact on my film career. You could easily say Cannes changed the trajectory of who I became in world cinema. I’m honored to be the first person of the African diaspora to be named President of the Cannes Jury and of a main film festival.
As the festival said in their announcement “Lee’s flamboyant personality is sure to shake things up.” Hoping his choices are as singular as his personality.
Reader Comments (9)
love this choice. Will be intersting to see what the jury is like and what he'll choose. In the past I think we can safely say that you rarely know what you're going to get with any jury president and their jury in terms of type of film they'd go for.
Never thought I'd say this, but I hope Spike Lee's more like Iñárritu than George Miller. Oftentimes the best filmmakers are terrible at being Jury Presidents. All that said, it will be very interesting to see his jury's choices. Can't wait.
Spike will do the right thing.
Go, Spike!
I admire him a lot.
Does the Jury President pick the jurors or does Cannes do that for him/her?
Nathaniel-totally agree. I still remember being stunned a filmmaker as traditional and mainstream as Steven Spielberg oversaw a movie like Blue is the Warmest Color as the top prize.
He is a very passionate and knowledgeable connoisseur of film - a very fine choice.
On a semi-related note: Jeremy Irons will be the Jury President of the Berlin Film Festival, and Helen Mirren will receive the Honorary Golden Bear.
As the years go by, I feel like I fall more and more in love with the Cannes festival. I look forward to it so much. I also feel fortunate to have a great art house cinema in my town that ends up playing a lot of the films that were at Cannes. If I ever strike it rich, first on my list is to find a way to go to the festival.
I think Spike will be a great president. But I’m just excited to learn what will play there. A couple years ago I went through a Palme d’or winner phase and watched a bunch, some for the first time & others rewatched after a long time. Something about those winners: even the weaker ones have something interesting about them. Except I, Daniel Blake (yawn).
And now Cate Blanchett will be President at Venice.