Coen brothers to head Cannes jury

OSCAR-WINNING film-makers Joel and Ethan Coen will jointly head the jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, it has been announced.

The brothers will be the first-ever co-presidents of the panel of film-makers and actors selected to judge the twenty-plus films in the main competition event of the 68th festival, which will run from May 13 to May 24.

The official line-up of films entered in the competition and the identities of the jury members will be revealed in April.

“We look forward to returning to Cannes this year,” the Oscar-winning directors said in a statement.

“We welcome as always the opportunity to watch movies there from all over the world. Cannes is a festival that has been important to us since the very beginning of our career.

“Presiding over the Jury is a special honour, since we have never heretofore been president of anything. We will issue further proclamations at the appropriate time.”

The brothers are firm favourites at Cannes. They won the prestigious Palme d’Or in 1991 for Barton Fink and the festival’s Grand Prix in 2013 for Inside Llewyn Davis. They also won the Best Director award in 1996 for Fargo and in 2001 for The Man Who Wasn’t There.

Their 2007 film No Country for Old Men won several awards at the Oscars - including Best Picture.

The quirky film-makers are currently making their new film Hail Caesar!, which stars George Clooney, Christopher Lambert, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Josh Brolin and Channing Tatum.

Photo: Rita Molnár / Wikimedia Commons