SEOUL, February 26 (AJP) - Korean film director Park Chan-wook will serve as jury president of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday, marking another milestone in his long-standing relationship with the prestigious event.
Park will chair the main competition jury responsible for selecting the Palme d'Or, the festival’s top prize. He is the first Korean filmmaker to preside over the Cannes jury.
His ties to Cannes date back more than two decades. In 2004, the noir-thriller "Oldboy" won the Grand Prix, propelling him into the international spotlight. He returned in 2009 to receive the Jury Prize for the vampire-themed thriller "Thirst," and again in 2022, when he was named Best Director for the neo-noir romantic mystery "Decision to Leave." Over the years, Park has become one of the festival’s most closely associated auteurs.
Widely regarded as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary world cinema, Park has built a reputation for meticulous visual composition and morally complex storytelling. Beyond representing Korean film abroad, he is viewed as a global auteur whose works regularly circulate through major festivals and critical discourse.
In a joint statement, Cannes president Iris Knobloch and festival director Thierry Frémaux said "Park Chan-wook's inventiveness and visual mastery have given contemporary cinema some truly memorable moments. His ability to capture the complex impulses of characters with unusual destinies has left a lasting mark."
They added, "We are delighted to celebrate his immense talent and, more broadly, the cinema of a country deeply engaged with the questioning of our time."
Park succeeds French actress Juliette Binoche, who led the jury in 2025. Korea previously celebrated a historic Cannes victory in 2019, when Bong Joon-ho won the Palme d'Or for "Parasite," underscoring the country’s growing influence in global filmmaking.
Park’s most recent feature, "No Other Choice," is a dark satire about an unemployed family man who resorts to extreme measures to secure a new job. The film was selected as South Korea’s submission for the Academy Awards, but did not receive a nomination.
The 79th Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 12 to 23 in Cannes, France.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
