Actor and director Diego Luna has been added to the prestigious judge panel of the Cannes Film Festival. The main Competition jury will be presided by Australian director George Miller, and Luna will be part of the “Un Certain Regard” category of the competition, which presents the most forward and experimental features.
There will be 18 films competing the category, which will be inaugurated with Egyptian director Mohamed Diab’s “Clash.” The panel will be presided by Swiss actress Marthe Keller and will also include French actress Céline Sallette and Swedish director Ruben Ostlund.
The festival recently announced its lineup for the 69th edition. The cinematic event is set to begin on May 11, with Woody Allen’s film “Café Society” opening, and will run through May 22.
While the list of films represents 28 countries, only two Latin American countries are included: Brazil with “Acquarius,” from former critic, now filmmaker Kleber Mendonca Filho, and Argentina with “The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis” by Andrea Testa and Francisco Marquez. Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia’s absence from the festival was striking.
As far as Spanish representation, high-profile director Pedro Almodóvar will be debuting his long-awaited “Julieta,” as well as director Albert Serra, who will be presenting his film “The Death of Louis XIV.”
Luna, on the other hand, has had a huge year as he will be staring in the highly anticipated stand alone film “Star Wars: Rogue One” opposite Felicity Jones, he recently directed a film about boxer Julio César Chavez, and just presented his film about his father and fatherhood, “Mr. Pig,” at Sundance Film Festival. “It's very clear to me now that I have daddy issues and luckily, that’s what my work is about – to reflect and to question yourself, to look inward,” Luna said at the time. “That’s what cinema is about, at least the cinema that I like.”
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
