French actress Juliette Binoche has been appointed as the jury president of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, succeeding last year’s president, filmmaker Greta Gerwig, the organisers announced on Tuesday.

The Oscar-winning actress expressed her enthusiasm for the role. “I’m looking forward to sharing these life experiences with the members of the jury and the public,” she said in a statement.

Reflecting on her deep connection to Cannes, she added, “In 1985, I walked up the steps for the first time with the enthusiasm and uncertainty of a young actress; I never imagined I’d return 40 years later in the honorary role of President of the Jury. I appreciate the privilege, the responsibility and the absolute need for humility.”

Binoche, regarded as one of France’s most revered performers, has worked with renowned filmmakers such as Michael Haneke, David Cronenberg, Anthony Minghella, Abbas Kiarostami, Olivier Assayas, Krzysztof Kieślowski, and Hirokazu Kore-eda.

Binoche’s career took off after she starred in André Téchiné’s Rendez-vous, which premiered at Cannes in 1985. She went on to win an Academy Award for best supporting actress for The English Patient in 1997 and was honoured with best actress at Cannes for Kiarostami’s Certified Copy in 2010.

Binoche was also part of Trần Anh Hùng’s The Taste of Things, which won the award for best director at Cannes in 2023.

The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 13-24, 2025. Accreditations for the festival opened Monday and will close on April 18, with the Official Selection set to be unveiled in mid-April. Meanwhile, Cannes Festival President Iris Knobloch has been re-elected for a second three-year term.