Park Chan-wook named 1st Korean to head Cannes jury

Filmmaker Park Chan-Wook attends the 83rd annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., Jan. 11. The Korean director will preside over the 79th Cannes film festival jury in May. AFP-Yonhap

Renowned filmmaker Park Chan-wook has been appointed as jury president for the 79th Cannes Film Festival, a historic move that makes him the first Korean director to lead the prestigious panel.

On Thursday, the festival organizers announced that the 62-year-old director, widely known for his 2003 film “Oldboy,” will preside over the competition jury for the upcoming event, which is scheduled to take place from May 12 to 23 in the French resort city.

While another prominent Korean director, Bong Joon-ho, previously led the 2011 Camera d’or jury, which awards the prize for the best first feature film, Park is the first Korean to head the main competition jury that awards the Palme d’Or, the highest prize of the festival.

“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,” said Iris Knobloch, director of the festival, and director Thierry Fremaux in a joint statement.

Regarding his appointment, Park expressed excitement about watching films together in a theater.

“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,” Park said.

The director added that in this age of mutual hatred and division, he believes the simple act of gathering in a theater to watch a film together is a moving expression of solidarity.

Director Park Chan-wook, winner of Best Director award for his movie "Decision to Leave" in 2022, poses during the photo call following the awards ceremony at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 28, 2022. AP-Yonhap

Since his breakout success with the mystery thriller “Joint Security Area” in 2000, Park has established himself as a leading figure in global cinema through his stylized storytelling and exploration of revenge and human nature.

The filmmaker gained widespread international recognition with his so-called Vengeance Trilogy, which consists of “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” (2002), “Oldboy” and “Lady Vengeance” (2005). His career also includes the Hollywood production “Stoker” (2013) and the 2016 psychological thriller “The Handmaiden,” which became a critical and commercial hit worldwide.

Park is a regular at the Cannes Film Festival and has won several major awards. He first gained international fame at Cannes in 2004 when “Oldboy” won the Grand Prix. He later received the Jury Prize for “Thirst” in 2009 and was awarded Best Director for “Decision to Leave” in 2022. His most recent film, “No Other Choice,” was released in 2025 and received critical acclaim as well.