We were just talking about Cannes’ impact on this year’s Oscars and they went and announced Oscar winner and bonafide cinema legend Spike Lee as the head of the jury for next year’s festival. Lee’s Blackkklansman started its Oscar winning journey at the 2018 festival, and that jury headed by Cate Blanchett awarded it the Grand Prix or 2nd place.
Lee has had a long relationship with Cannes since the 1980s...
His first feature She's Gotta Have It, won the Prix de la Jeunesse in the Director's Fortnight in 1986. Famously many - including Lee - think that Do The Right Thing (1989) was robbed of the Palme D’Or. The jury was divided and half, including Sally Field, chose Lee’s film but ultimately the decider was the jury president who has 2 votes and Wim Wenders chose Steven Soderbergh’s sex, lies and videotape. Other Lee films that played Cannes include Jungle Fever (1991) and Summer of Sam (1999).
Lee with his cast at cannes in 1989
Lee acknowledged this long history with the festival in a statement:
To me the Cannes Film Festival (besides being the most important film festivals 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. I’m honored to be the first person of the African diaspora to be named President of the Cannes Jury and of a main film festival.
As the festival said in their announcement “Lee’s flamboyant personality is sure to shake things up.” Hoping his choices are as singular as his personality.