French stars Omar Sy and Eva Green part of 2024 Cannes film festival jury

The eight member jury for the 77th edition of the Cannes film festival includes French actor and producer Omar Sy and actress Eva Green, presided by "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig.

Festival organisers unveiled the jury Monday, with four men and four women, including Sy, one of the biggest names in French cinema, known internationally for hit Netflix show Lupin, and Green, one of the most memorable James Bond actors, whose last role was Milady in The Three Musketeers, and who has appeared in a string of Hollywood blockbusters.

Joining them is Oscar-nominated actor Lily Gladstone, who won a string of awards for her performance in Martin Scorsese's 2023 Killers of the Flower Moon.

The 37-year-old will be the youngest member of the jury, which also includes Turkish screenwriter and photographer Ebru Ceylan, Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, Spanish director and screenwriter Juan Antonio Bayona, Italian actor Pierfrancisco Favino, and Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu, who won the 2018 Palme d'Or for Shoplifters.

Palme d'or

The Jury will award the 2024 Palme d'Or – the festival's top prize – to one of the 22 films in competition, which include Francis Ford Coppola's with his long-awaited epic, Megalopolis.

Coppola has twice won the Palme d'Or, for "The Conversation" in 1974 and for "Apocalypse Now" in 1979, which was not finished when it premiered at the festival.

A biopic of Donald Trump, The Apprentice, by Iran-born director Ali Abbasi, is also in the running.

The winners will be announced on 25 May at the closing ceremony

Late additions

There have been late additions to the festival's line-up in recent days, including The Seed of the Sacred Fig by Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, who has faced prison time for criticising the government. It is unclear if he will be able to attend the festival.

Oliver Stone will present his latest documentary, Lula, about the current president of Brazil.

Actor Emma Stone and Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos will present Kinds of Kindness, after their 2023 collaboration, Poor Things, won Lanthimos the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, while Stone picked up an Oscar for Best Actress.

(with AFP)