Park Chan-wook 2026 Cannes Jury Additions are Already Telling a Story
Demi Moore, Stellan Skarsgård, and Chloé Zhao set the tone for the 79th Cannes jury
May 4, 2026 | Lisa Hatzenbeller
Before this year’s Palme d’Or is awarded from a field of 22 competition films, the makeup of Park Chan-wook’s Cannes jury is already offering clues about the kinds of stories, performances and artistic risks that may resonate most.
The latest additions do not feel random or celebrity-driven. They feel intentionally global, filmmaker-focused and built around voices that understand both artistic ambition and emotional risk.
Palme d’Or winners can shape both the Oscar race and the global film conversation. In 2024, Anora helped turn Sean Baker into a four-time Oscar winner, while 2025 winner It Was Just an Accident generated global conversation of its own, even if that momentum ultimately fell short of a Best Picture or Director nomination.
The Big Names Behind This Year’s Jury
Park Chan-wook, Jury President
As this year’s jury president, he brings the kind of filmmaking résumé that practically demands attention. From Oldboy to Decision to Leave to last year’s criminally Oscar-snubbed film No Other Choice, the South Korean auteur has built a career around precision, moral complexity and stories that rarely leave audiences emotionally untouched.
A jury led by Park immediately raises questions about whether bold storytelling, emotional discomfort and artistic risk could once again be rewarded on Cannes’ biggest stage.
Demi Moore
One of this year’s most recognizable additions, she arrives in Cannes with something far more valuable than star power alone, perspective.
Her career resurgence from 2024’s The Substance not only helped reintroduce her to a new generation of awards watchers, it reminded audiences, critics and voters what can happen when a performer is willing to take real creative risks. Now, after one of the industry’s most talked-about career reinventions, she brings firsthand experience with the kind of bold, conversation-starting filmmaking Cannes has never been afraid to embrace.
Stellan Skarsgård
Coming off last year’s Cannes breakout Sentimental Value, which led to a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination, he arrives with the kind of international credibility few actors on this year’s jury can match. He may also prove to be one of its most quietly influential voices on the jury.
With decades of work spanning arthouse cinema, prestige drama, and major studio franchise, Skarsgård brings a perspective shaped by both artistic risk and global recognition. Now, that experience shifts from the screen to the jury room.
Chloé Zhao
Coming off one of the strongest awards seasons of her career since Nomadland, she arrives in Cannes with momentum few filmmakers on this year’s jury can match.
Last year, Zhao earned Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Hamnet, which also went on to score a Best Picture nomination. Add in her previous two Oscar wins for Nomadland, and she brings a perspective shaped by both deeply personal filmmaking and the kind of awards success that can redefine a career.
The Rest of This Year’s Jury Is No Afterthought
Of course, this year’s jury is about far more than its biggest headline-grabbing names.
Joining them is an equally accomplished group that includes Oscar-nominated actress Ruth Negga, recognized for her work in Loving; Belgian filmmaker Laura Wandel whose latest film Adam’s Sake screened at last year’s Cannes Critics’ Week; rising Chilean director Diego Céspedes, won last year’s Un Certain Regard with his debut feature The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo;veteran actor Isaach De Bankolé who most recently starred in The Brutalist and will soon be seen in Dune: Part Three, and longtime screenwriter Paul Laverty, whose work includes writing two Palme d’Or winning films in 2006 and 2016.
Each brings their own cultural perspective, artistic instincts and storytelling experiences into one of cinema’s most closely watched rooms.
Now, with Park Chan-wook and one of the most accomplished juries Cannes has assembled in recent years officially in place, the question shifts from who is doing the judging to which of this year’s 22 competition films will connect most.
