Announced on the 26th: "Korea Is a Great Cinematic Powerhouse"
Director Park Chanwook has been appointed president of the jury for the 79th Cannes Film Festival, which will be held this May.
On the 26th, Cannes Film Festival Executive Director Thierry Fremaux announced the appointment, saying, "Director Park's originality and visual command have gifted us with memorable moments in contemporary film history." The festival added, "Korea is a great cinematic powerhouse that restores gem-like works every year," and "In a space that honors filmmakers, it has produced major contemporary masterpieces that have captivated tens of millions of viewers."
Director Park said, "Voluntarily submitting to a double confinement, first by being locked in a theater to watch films and then being locked in again to debate them with fellow jurors, is something I have long awaited with great anticipation," adding, "In an era of hatred and division, I believe that the very act of gathering in a theater to watch a single film together and share our breath is itself an expression of universal solidarity."
Director Park has won three times at Cannes and has been recognized as a world-class master. He received the Grand Prix in 2004 for "Oldboy," the Jury Prize in 2009 for "Thirst," and the Best Director Award in 2022 for "Decision to Leave." In 2017, he served as a jury member in the same section.
In the Korean film industry, jury members have been selected six times: starting with Director Shin Sangok in 1994, followed by Director Lee Changdong in 2009, actress Jeon Doyeon in 2014, actor Song Kangho in 2021, and Director Hong Sangsoo in 2025. However, Park is the first to serve as president of the jury that selects the Palme d'Or winner, the festival's highest honor.
The 79th Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 12 to 23 in Cannes, a resort city in the south of France.
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