How to Have Sex director Molly Manning Walker will head up this year’s jury for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar.
The British filmmaker, whose debut feature won the section’s top prize in 2023, will be joined on the jury by French-Swiss director Louise Courvoisier, whose Holy Cow won Un Certain Regard‘s Youth Award last year, Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini, the 2024 ex-aequno best director winner for The Damned, Argentinian actor Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (120 BPM), and International Film Festival Rotterdam director Vanja Kaludjercic.
“It’s such an honour to return to Cannes as the President of the Un Certain Regard Jury,” Walker said in a statement. “This selection will forever hold a special place in my heart. Being a part of it really changed my world. I can’t wait to discover the films at the epicentre of new cinema. Right now more than ever I feel that cinema is so key to bringing us together and allowing us to feel, to connect with each other. To escape, wonder and learn about each other. I’m excited to go on this journey with the other Jury members as I know it will be one hell of an adventure escaping into these filmmakers’ worlds.”
The five-member jury will be tasked with awarding prizes for Cannes’ main sidebar, which highlights emerging voices and formally adventurous work. Guan Hu’s Black Dog won the Un Certain Regard prize for best film last year.
From left to right: Molly Manning Walker, Roberto Minervini, Vanja Kaludjercic, Louise Courvoisier, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart
© DR, © Olga Prudka, © Anne Reitsma, © Laurent Le Crabe, © DR
This year’s program includes 20 titles, and is packed with directorial debuts, including Scarlett Johansson’s Eleanor the Great, starring June Squibb; Harrison Dickinson’s Urchin, the first time behind the camera for the Babygirl and Triangle of Sadness star; and Akinola Davies’ My Father’s Shadow, starring Slow Horses actor Sope Dìrísù.
The 2025 Un Certain Regard sections will open on Wednesday, May 14, with Promised Sky from Tunisian director Erige Sehiri.
The 78th Festival de Cannes will runs from May 13 to May 24.
