The Mexican actor Gael García Bernal (pictured) has been selected as a jury member of the 67th edition of the official competition of the Cannes Film Festival, it was announced today. The eight-member jury headed by New Zealander director Jane Campion will chose the Palm d'Or winner among the 18 films in competition.
García Bernal becomes the tenth Mexican to be in Cannes' jury. The first Mexican jury was playwright Rodolfo Usigli in the very first edition of the festival in 1946. He was followed by filmmaker Luis Buñuel in 1954, by actress Dolores del Río -who was first female member of Cannes' jury ever- in 1957, actor Pedro Armendáriz in 1961, actor/politician Rodolfo Echeverría in 1973, writer/screenwriter Carlos Fuentes in 1977, film historian Emilio García Riera in 1995, actress Salma Hayek in 2005, and director Alfonso Cuarón in 2008.
It is the second time that García Bernal is selected as a jury member at Cannes. In 2010 he was the president of the Camera d'Or jury, which awards the prize for Best First Film at the French festival.
Additionally, last week it was announced that the director of the Morelia Film Festival, Daniel Michel, will be part of this year's Critics' Week jury. Michel repeats as a jury in one of Cannes' parallel sections, having served in the Un Certain Regard jury in 2011.
The other Latin American jury member at this year's Cannes Film Festival is Argentinean director Pablo Trapero will head the Un Certain Regard jury.
