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ITALIAN filmmaker Nanni Moretti will be jury president at this year’s Cannes Festival.

Giovanni (“Nanni”) Moretti, 58, is a familiar face on La Croisette, having won the Palme d’Or in 2001 for The Son’s Room, about the effects on a family of their son’s death. He presented his Habemus Papa at the festival last year.

An actor, producer, screenwriter and director, Moretti is also well known for his semi-autobiographical 1993 film Caro Diaro (Dear Diary). Also active in left-wing politics, he organised protests against the Berlusconi government in 2002.

He said being jury president would be “a joy, an honour and a big responsibility”, calling the event “the world’s most prestigious cinema festival, held in a country which has always treated cinema with attention and respect”.

The festival’s general delegate, Thierry Frémaux, said: “Nanni Moretti is a major filmmaker; very high up in my personal pantheon.”

Photo: Marco Calvani/Creative Commons