Director Park Chan-wook has been appointed jury president for the 79th Cannes Film Festival, marking the first time for a Korean director. The event is scheduled for May 12 to 23 in Cannes, France. Park has previously won multiple awards at Cannes, including for 'Oldboy' and 'Decision to Leave'.
The organizers of the 79th Cannes Film Festival announced on February 26, 2026, that director Park Chan-wook will serve as president of the competition jury. The 62-year-old filmmaker will lead the main competition panel that awards the Palme d’Or, becoming the first Korean director to do so. While Bong Joon-ho previously headed the 2011 Camera d’Or jury for best first feature films, Park's role marks a milestone for the main section.
Festival president Iris Knobloch and director Thierry Fremaux stated jointly, “Park Chan-wook’s inventiveness, visual mastery and penchant for capturing the multiple impulses of women and men with strange destinies have given contemporary cinema some truly memorable moments.” They added, “We are delighted to celebrate his immense talent and, more broadly, the cinema of a country deeply engaged with the questioning of our time.”
In response, Park said, “To be enclosed in a theater to watch films and enclosed again to engage in debate with the members of the jury is a double and voluntary confinement that I await with great anticipation.” He further noted, “In this age of mutual hatred and division, I believe that the simple act of gathering in a theater to watch a single film together, our breaths and heartbeats aligning, is itself a moving and universal expression of solidarity.”
Since his debut with the 2000 mystery thriller “Joint Security Area,” Park has built a global reputation through stylized storytelling exploring revenge and human nature. He gained international acclaim with his Vengeance Trilogy: “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” (2002), “Oldboy” (2003), and “Lady Vengeance” (2005). Other notable works include the Hollywood production “Stoker” (2013) and the 2016 psychological thriller “The Handmaiden,” both critical and commercial successes. At Cannes, he won the Grand Prix for “Oldboy” in 2004, the Jury Prize for “Thirst” in 2009, and Best Director for “Decision to Leave” in 2022. His latest film, “No Other Choice,” released in 2025, also received critical acclaim.
Park succeeds French actress Juliette Binoche as jury president, highlighting the festival's international diversity.
