Cannes: Nadine Labaki is President of the Un Certain Regard Jury

Nadine Labaki, director of the Golden Globe and Academy Award-nominated film Capernaum, has been chosen as the president of the Un Certain Regard jury of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, it was announced today.

Nadine Labaki’s three feature films catapulted her to international fame, from the Festival de Cannes’ red carpet to the Oscars ceremony a few months ago. The director, actress and screenwriter’s career was first launched on the Croisette, and it is here that all her films have been unveiled.

“I remember back when I used to come to Cannes as a film student, I was so excited to experience the world’s most prestigious festival,” she stated. “Back then, it seemed so out of reach to me. I remember getting up early in the morning and the endless queues to get a ticket. It seems like yesterday, but it was fifteen years ago that I filled in the Festival de Cannes’ Cinéfondation registration form, my heart full of hope and my hand shaking.

Today, I am the President of the Un Certain Regard Jury, which just goes to show that sometimes life can be even better than your dreams. I can’t wait to see the films in the Selection. I can’t wait to debate and discuss, to be shaken up, to find inspiration in other artists’ work.”

In 2018, Nadine Labaki was selected for Competition with her powerfully moving Capernaum, a poignant manifesto on damaged childhood, refugees and the cracks in a society that turns its back on humanity, which sent shockwaves around the Croisette. Nadine Labaki won the Jury Prize, that year chaired by Cate Blanchett, and gave an unforgettable speech accompanied by young actor and Syrian refugee, Zain Al Rafeea. Nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, Capernaum made its Lebanese director the first woman from the Arabic-speaking world to be nominated in this category.

Labaki joins the previously announced Alejandro González Iñárritu, who will be the president of the Cannes in competition jury.

The Un Certain Regard screenings will kick off on May 15 with an introduction of the Jury in the evening, a day after the opening of the 72nd edition of the Festival de Cannes on Tuesday May 14. The Un Certain Regard winners will be announced on Friday May 24.