02/02/2016 - The Australian filmmaker will head the jury of the 69th edition (11-22 May 2016) of the world-famous Cannes Film Festival

Director George Miller

For the first time, the competition jury at the Cannes Film Festival will be chaired by an Australian director, in the guise of George Miller, who will be officiating at the 69th edition (11-22 May 2016) of the most important film event in the world. In this role, he succeeds American duo Joel and Ethan Coen, who chaired the jury at the 2015 edition of the gathering managed by Pierre Lescure (president) and Thierry Frémaux (general delegate). Interestingly, George Miller will be the second chairperson to hail from the southern hemisphere in the festival’s history, following New Zealand’s Jane Campion in 2014.

The director set the Croisette on fire out of competition in May last year with Mad Max: Fury Road (ten nominations for the 2016 Oscars, including in the Best Film and Best Director categories), the fourth instalment in the cult series of apocalyptic and rip-roaring works, which got under way in 1979 with Mad Max. George Miller has also tried his hand at other genres, such as fantasy-comedy (The Witches of Eastwick in 1987), melodrama (Lorenzo’s Oil, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay in 1993) and even animation with Happy Feet (winner of the Oscar for Best Animated Film in 2007). He was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Film in 1996 as the producer of Babe (which also secured him a nomination in the Best Screenplay category).

George Miller remarked on his appointment as head of the Cannes competition jury as follows: “What an unmitigated delight! To be there in the middle of this storied festival at the unveiling of cinematic treasures from all over the planet, to spend time in passionate discourse with fellow members of the jury. It’s such an honour. I’ll be there with bells on!"

(Translated from French)