For the first time, a Latin American filmmaker will be the President of the Jury at the Festival de Cannes. Marking the festival’s 72nd event, coming in May 2019, Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu has accepted the offer to head the Jury this year. A timely honor for Mexican cinema, given Guillermo del Toro handed the Best Director prize over to Alfonso Cuarón at the Oscars on Sunday.
Iñárritu, of course, took the Academy Award for Best Director twice in consecutive years. Firstly, with Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) in 2015, then the following year for The Revenant.
Iñárritu is no stranger to the Cannes Film Festival either. Babel landed him the Best Director prize at the Festival de Cannes in 2006. Later, in 2010, Biutiful would earn Javier Bardem the Best Actor award in Cannes.
Iñárritu has had a dynamic, immersive career so far. Let’s not forget his first feature, Amores Perros, also debuted at the Cannes Semaine de la Critique (as well as a Foreign Film Oscar nomination). His follow-up was also critically acclaimed, the English-language 21 Grams, with Naomi Watts, Benicio del Toro, and Sean Penn.
The Festival de Cannes 2019 runs from Tuesday 14th to Saturday 25th May.