Cannes Film Festival 2020: Spike Lee Named Festival’s Jury President

Spike Lee will serve as President of the Jury for Cannes Film Festival

American film director Spike Lee will serve as jury president for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. Lee will be the first Black President of the Jury in the festival’s 73-year history.

“Spike Lee’s perspective is more valuable than ever,” the festival’s board of directors said in a joint statement. “Cannes is a natural homeland and a global sounding board for those who (re)awaken minds and question our stances and fixed ideas. Lee’s flamboyant personality is sure to shake things up.”

“When I got the call that I was offered the opportunity to be President…I was shocked, happy, surprised and proud all at the same time,” Lee said in his own official statement. “To me the Cannes Film Festival (besides being the most important film festival in the world – no disrespect to anybody) has had a great impact on my film career. You could easily say Cannes changed the trajectory of who I became in world cinema.”

Lee is no stranger to Cannes, having seven of his films play in their official selection. His first selection, 1986’s She’s Gotta Have It, won the Prix de la Jeunesse in the Director’s Fortnight section. Other Spike Lee joints to play Cannes have been Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever (both In Competition), Girl 6 (out of competition), Summer of Sam (Director’s Fortnight), and Ten Minutes Older (Un Certain Regard).

His most recent film to premiere at the festival was BlacKkKlansman in 2018, where it won the Grand Prix.

Moving the festival forward

Lee’s selection as Cannes President is a worthy and welcome choice at a time when the film industry’s racial and gender disparities are being laid bare worldwide. Cannes is no exception to bias, either, as they’ve been embroiled in representation issues of their own from a generally Eurocentric crop of winners to dress-code discrimination a la “Heelgate”.

However, Cannes is starting to take steps in a more inclusive direction. The past few years have seen an increasingly-diverse selection of films and jury presidents. (Mexican director Alejandro G. Iñárritu served as Jury President just last year, and oversaw a jury that awarded the Palme d’Or to South Korea’s Parasite, a first for that country.)

“I’m honored to be the first person of the African diaspora (USA) to be named President of the Cannes Jury and of a main film festival,” Lee expressed. He went on to thank the festival for the platform it’s offered him over the past four decades. “I will always treasure this special relationship.”

The 73rd iteration of the French film festival will take place from May 12-23, 2020. The remainder of the jury – as well as the official film selection – will be announced sometime in April.

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