Deepika Padukone in Cannes Film Festival jury

Deepika Padukone will be 9th Indian to be part of Festival de Cannes Jury (Photo: filmfare)

The 75th Festival de Cannes, or Cannes Film Festival, has unveiled actor Deepika Padukone as part of its 9-member jury for the festival that will start on May 17 in the chic resort town on the French Riviera.

In a press release, the festival organisers describe Padukone as “actress, producer, philanthropist and entrepreneur”, who has over 30 films to her credit. She had made her Hollywood debut in the film xXx: The Return of Xander Cage co-starring Vin Diesel.

Apart from Deepika, other members joining the jury this year include actresses Rebecca Hall and Noomi Rapace, filmmakers Jasmine Trinca from Italy, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, Ladj Ly from France, Jeff Nichols from the United States and Joachim Trier from Norway. French actor Vincent Lindon will preside over the Cannes Film Festival`s jury as the president this year.

Before Padukone, a few other Indian film personalities have served as jury members of Cannes. Way back in 1950, film maker Chetan Anand was invited to be part of the festival jury, but he declined, saying he did not feel qualified enough to be part of ‘such an enlightened panel’.

In 1982, noted film maker Mrinal Sen became the first Indian to serve as a jury member. He was followed by Indian-American film maker Mira Nair in 1990 and writer Arundhati Roy was part of the jury in 2000.

In 2003, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan became first Indian actress to be a jury member and she was followed by actor-director Nandita Das in 2005. She was followed by veteran actor Sharmila Tagore in 2009 and in the following year, film maker and actor Shekhar Kapur was on jury duty. Most recently, actor Vidya Balan was member of the Festival de Cannes jury in 2013.

“It is a great honour and source of pride to be entrusted, in the midst of the tumult of all the events we are going through in the world, with the splendid, weighty task of chairing the Jury of the 75th International Cannes Film Festival. With my Jury, we will strive to take the best possible care of the films of the future, all of which carry the same secret hope of courage, loyalty, and freedom, with a mission to move the greatest number of women and men by speaking to them of their common wounds and joys. Culture helps the human soul to rise and hope for tomorrow,” says Lindon, president of jury for 2022.

The jury will award the Palme d’Or honours to one of the 21 films in competition during the closing ceremony of the film festival on May 28 and which will be broadcast live by France Télévisions and Brut. The festival has also announced Jasmine Trinca’s first feature film Marcel to be presented in the Special Screening.