Korean director Park Chan-wook to lead Cannes jury

Park Chan-wook will become the first Korean filmmaker to lead the Cannes Film Festival jury, adding another milestone to his celebrated career. The acclaimed director and past Cannes award-winner will preside over the festival’s 79th edition.

Reuters

26 February 2026 at 11:59:23

Korean director Park Chan-wook to lead Cannes jury

FILE PHOTO: Park Chan-wook attends the 2026 BAFTA Tea Party in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 10, 2026

Caroline Brehman/Reuters

Award-winning Korean director Park Chan-wook will preside over the jury of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, the organisers said on Thursday.

Park, the first Korean filmmaker to lead the jury, is known for films including Thirst (2009), The Handmaiden (2016) and No Other Choice (2025). He won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004 for Old Boy and took the festival’s Best Director award in 2022 for Decision to Leave.

Cannes described Park as a director "often compared to filmmakers such as Tarantino, De Palma and Fincher for artistry in composing images whose formal beauty is matched only by their moral rigor," noting that he cites Kurosawa, Bergman, Visconti and Hitchcock as influences.

"To be enclosed in a theater to watch films, and enclosed again to engage in debate with the members of the Jury, this double, voluntary confinement is something I await with great anticipation," Park said.

-Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Michaela Cabrera, Editing by Philippa Fletcher/Reuters