Pedro Almodovar 2017 Cannes Jury President
Flamboyant Spanish director & screenwriter takes the reigns
The 70th edition of the Festival International du Film de Cannes begins on 17th May 2017 and Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar will be President of the Jury.
With a career that spans some 35 years or more, Pedro Almodóvar is no newcomer to Cannes. His 1999 film All About My Mother premiered at the Cannes festival in the same year, where he won both Best Director and the Ecumenical Jury prize. In 2004 Bad Education opened the 57th Cannes Film Festival, the first Spanish film to do so. Almodóvar's film Volver, starring Penélope Cruz, won Best Screenplay in 2006 after a rapturous reception at the film festival. His 20th feature film, Julieta, was released in April 2016 in Spain to positive reviews and received its international debut at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It was Almodóvar's fifth film to compete for the Palme d'Or.
Responding to the invitation of Pierre Lescure and Thierry Frémaux, the filmmaker said: "I am very happy to be able to celebrate the Festival de Cannes 70th anniversary from such a privileged position. I am grateful, honoured and a bit overwhelmed. I am aware of the responsibility that entails being the president of the jury and I hope to be up to the job. I can only tell that I’ll devote myself, body and soul, to this task, that it is both a privilege and a pleasure."
In films full of physicality and with a big heart, a troupe of actors faithfully follows the director and breathes life into his wonderfully human characters, including Penélope Cruz, Marisa Paredes, Antonio Banderas, Rossy de Palma, Javier Bardem, Javier Cámara, Carmen Maura and Victoria Abril.
The Official Selection and Members of the Jury will be announced in mid-April.
