Chaired by Lebanese director and actress Nadine Labaki, the jury of three women and two men will reveal its prize-winners on 24 May, during the Un Certain Regard closing ceremony.
The first is Marina Foïs, who began her acting career on stage, first by herself and then with the “Robin des Bois” troupe. After Dominique Farrugia noticed the troupe in 1996, it came to represent a new era of French comedy. Marina Foïs went on to appear in films both comic and dramatic. She was nominated in 2003 for the César for ‘Most Promising Actress’ in Filles perdues, cheveux gras. Then for ‘Best Actress’ in 2008 for Darling, 2012 for Polisse, which had premiered in Cannes Competition 2011, again in 2017 for Irréprochable, and in 2018 for L’Atelier, which had premiered in Un Certain Regard 2017. She appeared in the 2018 Gilles Lellouche comedy Le Grand Bain (Cannes 2018) and the Antoine Raimbault drama Une Intime Conviction. On stage, Marina Foïs portrayed Hervé Guibert for several months in “Les Idoles” by Christophe Honoré, which earned her a nomination for this year’s Molière awards.
The jury also includes Nurhan Şekerci-Porst who has been working with scriptwriter, director, and producer Fatih Akin since 2005. First as a tutor on Akin’s side at the HFBK University and later for his production company Corazón International which produced several awarded films such as Crossing the Bridge – The Sound of Istanbul, The Edge of Heaven, Soul Kitchen and Takva.
In 2012 she co-founded with Fatih Akin the production company Bombero International and produced The Cut and In the Fade, which premiered at the Festival de Cannes in 2017 and won the award for Best Actress (Diane Kruger) and also the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 2018. Prior to her work as a producer, Nurhan Şekerci-Porst studied English Literature, Politics, and Film in Hamburg and Bristol (GB).
Born in 1975 in Buenos Aires, Lisandro Alonso studied for three years at the Universidad del Cine. After co-directing his first short film Dos En La Vereda in 1995, he worked as an assistant director and sound designer until 2000. His first feature film, La Libertad, which focuses on the relationship between a lonely lumberjack and his environment, premiered in Un Certain Regard. After creating his own production company 4L, Alonso returned to Cannes in 2004 with Los Muertos, which premiered in the Directors Fortnight. Two years later, he completed his trilogy with Fantasma. In 2008, the director decided to lean toward a more fictional approach with Liverpool, following a young sailor looking for his mother in the lost villages of Tierra del Fuego. Five years later, Jauja, set in 19th century Denmark and Argentina and starring Danish actor Viggo Mortensen, won the FIPRESCI award in the section Un Certain Regard.
Lukas Dhont was born in Ghent, Belgium where he earned a degree in Audio-Visual Arts from the KASK Conservatorium. His short films Corps Perdu and L’Infini received numerous prizes. Throughout his studies, he focused on fiction but also explored the possibilities of documentary. In 2016 Lukas Dhont participated in the Cannes Cinéfondation Residence with the script of his first feature film Girl. The film combined themes the filmmaker had already examined, including dance, transformation, and identity. Girl was awarded the Caméra d’Or for best first feature at Cannes on its 2018 premiere in Un Certain Regard. Lukas Dhont is currently working on his second feature film.
