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"This is an obvious choice, since Greta Gerwig so audaciously
embodies the renewal of world cinema, for which Cannes is each
year both the forerunner and the sounding board," said festival
president Iris Knobloch and festival director Thierry Fremaux in
a joint statement.
Gerwig, 40, will be the first female U.S. director to serve as
jury president, taking the baton from the head of the 2023 jury,
"Triangle of Sadness" director and two-time Palme d'Or winner
Ruben Ostlund of Sweden.
She is also the youngest person to take on the task in nearly
six decades, since Sophia Loren, aged 31, in 1966.
Gerwig said in a statement that she was "stunned and thrilled
and humbled" to be selected.
She takes over after the film industry was shaken up by twin
summer Hollywood strikes that scrambled film and TV schedules,
potentially dimming some of the festival's glamour, and also
raised questions about the use of artificial intelligence and
how streaming services pay writers and actors for their work.
"Barbie", starring Margot Robbie, set records as the biggest
opening of 2023 and the highest grossing of any movie directed
by a woman in history, eclipsing the April opening of "The Super
Mario Bros. Movie". And in a sign of its prospects this awards
season, "Barbie" topped the list of nominees for Hollywood's
Golden Globe awards with nine nods this week.
The 77th Cannes Film Festival takes place from May 14-25, with
the official selection to be unveiled in mid-April.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray, Editing by Rachel More, William
Maclean)
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