Kusturica Cannes president and Payne at Un certain Regard

Emir Kusturica will be President of the Jury for the 58th Festival de Cannes which takes place from May 11th to 22nd 2005.

When selected for the first time at Cannes in 1985, he won the Palme d'Or for When Father was Away on Business. He returned in 1989 with Time of the Gypsies, and was awarded the Director's Prize. In 1995, Underground saw him join the very select group of directors who have twice been awarded the Palme d'Or.
After the success of Life is a Miracle in 2004, Emir Kusturica accepted to preside this year the Jury of the Festival de Cannes, he who once said "I have been born several times, and I'm sure that one of those times was in Cannes."

On this occasion, he told us:
"I want to thank the Festival de Cannes, which has twice recognized my films, in 1985 and in 1995, by awarding me the Palme d'Or. Now it is my turn to defend the values of the Festival: I have set my task as Jury President to place aesthetics and art at the heart of the event."

Alexander Payne will be the president of the Un Certain Regard Jury, an official selection of the Festival de Cannes, from May 11th to 22nd.
An American filmmaker, Alexander Payne directed Citizen Ruth, his first feature, in 1996. In 2002, About Schmidt, the lead played by Nicholson, was selected at Cannes then nominated for an Oscar before being awarded the Golden Globe for best screenplay. He received the same award again in 2005 for his latest film, Sideways, which has been a great popular and critical success. Sideways has been nominated for five of the Oscars: best film, best director, best actress and best actor in a supporting role and best adapted screenplay.
and received the Oscar for Writing (adapted screenplay).