Usually announced very shortly before the event itself, the identity of the personality set to head the Un Certain Regard jury has been revealed with plenty of time to spare this year, in anticipation of the 77th Cannes Film Festival (14-25 May), and it will be filmmaker, actor and producer Xavier Dolan who will take on the role.

The Canadian helmer is a true child of the Croisette, as he has presented six of his eight features there. Having first risen to fame in the Directors’ Fortnight at the age of 20 with I Killed My Mother, he was then selected twice for Un Certain Regard (Heartbeats in 2010 and Laurence Anyways [+leggi anche:
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"I am humbled and delighted to return to Cannes as president of the Un Certain Regard jury,” declared Dolan. “Even more than making films myself, discovering the work of talented filmmakers has always been at the very heart of both my personal and professional journeys. I see, in this responsibility I’m assigned, the opportunity to focus with the members of the Un Certain Regard Jury on an essential aspect of the art of film: stories told truthfully."

As a reminder, it will be US filmmaker, screenwriter and actress Greta Gerwig who will be chairing the official competition jury (see the news).

The official selection of the 77th Cannes Film Festival will be unveiled on 11 April.