Andrea Arnold Named President of Cannes Critics Week Jury

After her stint on the Cannes competition jury last year, British director Andrea Arnold has now been designated the president of this year’s jury for the Semaine de la Critique (Critics Week) section at the festival. Arnold, who will be leading a jury composed of four journalists to pick a winner from seven feature films in contention, will present the Nespresso Grand Prize to the winning filmmaker.

Arnold has made it into Cannes herself on a number of occasions, both as juror and filmmaker. She won the same award she will be presenting at the festival in 1998 for her short film “Milk,” while her feature films “Red Road” and “Fish Tank” both ended up winning the festival’s jury prize. The prestigious Semaine de la Critique Grand Prize has also been awarded to a number of notable filmmakers alongside Arnold, including Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Guillermo del Toro.

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“I was so excited when Milk screened in La Semaine de la Critique that I kept crashing into things. When I got home I counted 19 bruises,” Arnold said. “I am just as excited about being asked to be president of the jury of the Nespresso Grand Prize for La Semaine de la Critique and I think it might be a good idea to put away the china. I see it as an adventure. I will go into it open. See what and who comes.”