The famed American director has been announced as the President of the Jury for the 2013 Festival de Cannes this May.

This will be the first time that Steven Spielberg has taken this prestigious role, despite having been offered it many times before. Previous filming engagements have always proven too difficult to reschedule to allow him the time to undertake the presidential duties.

For over six decades, Cannes has served as a platform for extraordinary films to be discovered and introduced to the world for the first time. It is an honour and a privilege to preside over the jury of a festival that proves, again and again, that cinema is the language of the world” said the 66 year old director.

He went on to say “My admiration for the steadfast mission of the Festival to champion the international language of movies is second to none. The most prestigious of its kind, the festival has always established the motion picture as a cross cultural and generational medium.”

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Spielberg made his first appearance at the Cannes Film Festival some 31 years ago, with ‘E.T.‘, and follows in the footsteps of other giants of American cinema to have held the role of President of the Jury, including Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorcese and Robert De Niro.

The Festival de Cannes runs from Wednesday 15th to Sunday 26th May 2013.

CONTACT DETAILS
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès
1, bd. de la Croisette
06400 Cannes

Tel: 04 93 39 01 01

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Lead image Steven Spielberg Masterclass Cinémathèque Française courtesy Romain Dubois via Wikimedia Commons; licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

 

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