Date: 17th January 2001

Jodie Foster To Head Cannes Jury


Jodie Foster has been selected to head the jury at the 54th Cannes International Film Festival set to open on May 9.

Foster, whose mother is French, said in a statement that she had "dreamed since my childhood of having the honor of being president of the Cannes jury." Festival president Gilles Jacob commented, "It was time for her to come to Cannes." Foster received the festival's top Palme d'Or award for her performance in Taxi Driver in 1976. "I'll never forget the experience there that really launched my film-making career," she said in her statement.

Today's (Wednesday) Daily Variety commented that Foster's selection "is widely seen as an attempt by festival president Gilles Jacob to patch up his strained relations with Hollywood."

Source: Studio Briefing