Women Rule Cannes Film Festival 2020 Selection Committee
Cannes Film Festival 2020 leaders have unveiled the selection committee for this year’s edition, running May 12 through May 23. Last year, the festival revealed its committee for the first time, and it included four women, three of whom return this year. The committee now includes five women, dominating the list of participants. The announcement was made by Thierry Frémaux (the festival’s General Delegate), Christian Jeune (Director of the Film Department and Deputy General Delegate), and Stéphanie Lamome (Artistic Advisor of the Film Department, and also on the committee.) See the selection committee members below. Bios come courtesy of the Cannes Film Festival.
Last year’s Cannes made strides in the representation of films by female directors throughout the lineups — including four out of the 21 films in the Official Selection. Also of note last year, Mati Diop became not only the first black female filmmaker to have a film play in the main competition, she also went on to win the festival’s jury prize. Surely, Frémaux and his staff want to maintain this level of progress, and assure that women have a place at the table here.
Virginie Apiou
After studying Modern Literature at la Sorbonne, Virginie Apiou became a journalist for the written press. She also directs TV documentaries about Cinema (CANAL+, Warner, TCM for: Hitchcock — La Mort aux trousses or Hitchcock — Le crime était presque parfait, Les Acteurs-Réalisateurs, etc.) as well as reports for ARTE (Max Ophüls, Gabin-Renoir, Abel Gance, David Cronenberg, Abbas Kiarostami, and Lars von Trier).
Paul Grandsard
Paul Grandsard, of French-American descent, worked as a translator before directing six short films between 1987 and 2006. In 1996, he became a programmer for the Premiers Plans festival in Angers before joining the Festival de Cannes in 1999. Since 2010, he has been a professional photographer, specializing in portrait and architectural photography.
Laurent Jacob
After studying medicine briefly, Laurent Jacob became a trainee director and then second assistant to Claude Lelouch, Claude Sautet, Nadine Trintignant, Laurent Heynemann, and Jean-Jacques Annaud. He then made montage films about history of Cinema for Cannes (“Le Cinéma dans les yeux,” Liberté,” two series of “Préludes”). He was in charge of the Cinéfondation selection from 1998 to 2009.
Stéphanie Lamome
After completing a literature foundation course (also known as Khâgne), Stéphanie Lamome, from 1997 to 2015, worked as a journalist, reporter, critic, head of department and then deputy editor-in-chief of Première magazine. She was an on-air programmer for Radio Festival, the official radio of the Festival de Cannes, between 2017 and 2019. In 2019, she was appointed Artistic Advisor of the Film Department, working alongside Thierry Frémaux and Christian Jeune.
Éric Libiot
From 1986 to 2000, Éric Libiot was a radio host (Radio Beur), TV journalist (“Ensemble aujourd’hui”), freelance print journalist (7 à Paris, Marianne, Paris Match, Max, L’autre journal), reporter and deputy editor-in-chief of Première. In 2000, he became deputy editor-in-chief of Arts and Entertainment at L’Express magazine and Culture editor-in-chief in 2016. That same year, he also became a columnist at France Inter. In September 2019, he left L’Express. Today, Éric Libiot works for Lire and Astérios Spectacles while still a contributor at France Inter. He is currently writing a book on Clint Eastwood.
Lucien Logette
Holding a PHD in comparative literature, Lucien Logette was the winner of the 2018 Prix Bernard-Chardère. Co-editor of the Larousse mondial du cinéma (2011) and the Dictionnaire mondial des mouvements artistiques et littéraires 1870-2010 (2012), film columnist for La Quinzaine littéraire (1993-2015) and staff writer at 1895, Revue d’histoire du Cinéma, Lucien Logette has been editor-in-chief of the monthly Jeune Cinéma since 1990.
Johanna Nahon
Script doctor and producer, Johanna Nahon began working in production under Charles Gillibert in 2015. She then joined the film production and international sales company Celluloid Dreams, where she headed up the purchasing department from 2016 to 2018. In 2019, she created a development fund and a production company and worked on several projects as a consultant.
Guillemette Odicino
Journalist, critic and head of the Cinema department at Télérama, Guillemette Odicino produces the summer show “On s’fait des films” at France Inter, where she is also a Culture and Cinema columnist. She regularly contributes to the programme “Le Cercle”, broadcast on CANAL+ and CANAL+ Cinéma. Co-author of Toscan, papa et moi published by Editions de la Martinière and editor-in-chief of several special editions on Marilyn Monroe, Louis de Funès and animated films.
Caroline Veunac
Caroline Veunac researched her thesis on The Symbol of the Double in American Cinema at Sciences-Po Bordeaux. A graduate of the Centre de Formation des Journalistes, she wrote her first film reviews for the magazine Cinéastes, before working on a number of magazine titles. From 2016 to 2017, she was editor-in-chief of the TV show Plus de Séries, on CANAL+ Séries and is now a regular contributor to the film and TV website Somewhere Else.
