Benicio Del Toro to preside over ‘Un Certain Regard’ jury in Cannes

Benicio del Toro. Image: AFP/Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez

Puerto Rican-Spanish actor Benicio Del Toro will take over from Uma Thurman as president of the jury for the Un Certain Regard prize at the 71st Cannes Film Festival which is set to run from May 8 to 19.

Benicio Del Toro will preside over the jury that decides on the Un Certain Regard awards at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, according to an official press release dated Wednesday, April 4. Some 20 films will be in competition for the award.

The Puerto Rican actor will follow in the footsteps of Uma Thurman, the president of the jury in 2017, which awarded the Prix Un Certain Regard to “A Man of Integrity” by Mohammad Rasoulof. The 2017 jury also chose Jasmine Trinca for Un Certain Regard Best Actress, “Barbara” by Mathieu Amalric for the Poetry of Cinema Award, Taylor Sheridan for Un Certain Regard Best Director and Michel Franco’s “April’s Daughter” for the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize.

Benicio Del Toro is a regular visitor to the competition in Cannes where he won the Best Actor Award in 2008 for his role as Che Guevara in Steven Soderbergh’s two-part biographical film. The actor has also traveled to the south of France to support “The Usual Suspects”, “The Pledge”, “Sin City” and “7 Days in Havana” which is a 2012 anthology film where he directed the segment “El Yuma”. The star was also in competition for an award for “Sicario”, which was nominated for a Palme d’Or in 2015.

This year’s Cannes Film Festival will run from Tuesday, May 8 to Saturday, May 19. The official selection of films in competition at the 71st festival will be announced on April 12.

This year, Cate Blanchett will preside over the main jury at this year’s festival which will deliver a Carrosse d’Or lifetime achievement award to Martin Scorsese. JB

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