French Palme d'Or winner in line-up for Cannes Film Festival jury

The members of the jury for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival were announced on Thursday. Among them, Oscar winner Brie Larson, American actor Paul Dano and French director Julia Ducournau who won the Palme d'Or in 2021 for "Titane".

The nine-member group, headed by Swedish director Ruben Östlund, is in charge of awarding the top prize at the festival's closing ceremony on 27 May.

A total of 21 films are in the main competition, which boasts a record seven women directors, several first features as well as a swag of veteran names like Wes Anderson, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Ken Loach and Nanni Moretti.

Hailing the eclectic background of the jury members, organisers said that they wanted to "welcome the arrival of a generation of artists who produce, who play, who sing, who write".

• Cannes Film Festival to celebrate more women directors, African talent

Multi-talented jury

Julia Ducournau: Her shockingly gory love story "Titane" won the Palme d'Or in 2021. In 2022 she directed two episodes of the soon-to-be-released Apple series "The New Look" featuring Juliette Binoche and Ben Mendelsohn.

Maryam Touzani: The Moroccan director's film "The Blue Caftan" was selected for Un Certain Regard in 2022 and shortlisted for the Oscars. It won the Jury Prize at the Marrakech International Film Festival in November.

Denis Ménochet: The French actor has worked with numerous French and international directors including Ridley Scott, Julie Delpy, Stephen Frears and Wes Anderson. He recently won the Goya Award for Best Actor for Rodrigo Sorogoyen's "The Beasts", presented in Cannes last year.

Rungano Nyoni: Born in Zambia, Rungano Nyoni grew up in Wales. Her first feature "I'm Not a Witch", written at La Résidence du Festival de Cannes, premiered in Cannes and won Nyoni the British BAFTA award for Outstanding Debut in 2018. She is currently editing her upcoming feature "On Becoming a Guinea Fowl".

Damián Szifrón: The Argentine's film "Wild Tales" was selected for the official competition at Cannes in 2014 and went on to win a BAFTA, the Goya and more than 40 international prizes. His new film, "To Catch a Killer", starring Shailene Woodley, has just been released worldwide.

Atiq Rahimi: Born in Kabul, writer-director Atiq Rahimi took refuge in France after the invasion of Afghanistan. The adaptation of his first book "Earth and Ashes" for the screen in 2004 was selected in Un Certain Regard category. He won the Goncourt literary prize for his book "Syngué Sabour" (The Patience Stone) which he also adapted for the screen in 2012.

Brie Larson: In 2016, the American actress and filmmaker won the Oscar for her breakthrough performance in L. Abrahamson's "Room".She was also part of Marvel's first female-led superhero film, "Captain Marvel", directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck in 2019.

Paul Dano: The American actor made his debut at the age of 17 and worked with directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson and Steve McQueen. He was in Cannes for Paolo Sorrentino's "Youth" in 2015 and again in 2017 for "Okja" by Bong Joon-ho. Last year, Dano starred in the Spielberg's Oscar nominated drama, "The Fabelmans", which won Oscar for Best Picture in 2023. 

Swedish touch

The jury is headed by Swedish director Ruben Östlund, who won his second Palme d'Or for "Triangle of Sadness" in 2022, after "The Square" in 2017. He is keen to underline the important social role of cinema in the smartphone era.

"You could say that the most important time of cinema is today because it's one of the few rooms where we are watching things together. All other content, we consume it by ourself in front of an individual screen," he said.

• Swedish director Ruben Östlund to head Cannes festival jury

Östlund takes on the role as jury chief exactly half a century after legendary fellow Swede Ingrid Bergman had the honour.

Cannes "is one of the few arenas where you feel – okay, money plays a role, but you can't buy your position in competition," he told French news agency AFP.

"You can have, like, a small Iranian film done by a 19-year-old director who is making a film on a (digital) camera next to really, really big budget movies, and these two films must be evaluated equally."

RFI is covering the Cannes Film Festival which runs from 16 - 27 May.