Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki joins prestigious Cannes Film Festival jury

Oscar-nominated Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki has been selected as a jury member for the 77th edition of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 14 to 25 in France's Cote d'Azur region.

Labaki, 50, will mark a return to the Cannes jury following her presidency of the Un Certain Regard jury in 2019.

The Lebanese filmmaker was awarded the Jury Prize at the Festival de Cannes 2018 with her powerful film "Capernaum", which was also nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

After signing award-winning commercials and music videos, she took part in the Résidence de la Cinéfondation of the Festival de Cannes in 2004 to write and develop 'Caramel', her first feature film, an impertinent ode to female solidarity and the biggest success of Lebanese cinema abroad.

In 2011, she presented "Where Do We Go Now?" in the Un Certain Regard selection, a bold universal fable about tolerance, and in 2014, she directed the 'O Milagre' segment for the sketch film "Rio, I Love You".

The jury

Also joining Labaki as part of the jury will be French screen stars Omar Sy and Eva Green along with Oscar-nominated actor Lily Gladstone, who at 37 years of age will be the youngest member of the jury.

This year's jury will be led by "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig, and also includes Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, who won the 2018 Palme d'Or for 'Shoplifters', Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino, Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona, and Turkish screenwriter Ebru Ceylan.

The films

The jury will be tasked with selecting the winner of the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, from a selection of 22 films that include the return of Francis Ford Coppola with his long-awaited epic, "Megalopolis".

A biopic of Donald Trump, "The Apprentice", by Iran-born director Ali Abbasi, is also in the running.

There have also been some late additions to the festival's line-up in recent days.

They include "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" by Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, who has faced prison time for criticising his country's government. It is unclear if he will be able to attend the festival.

Oliver Stone will present his latest documentary, "Lula", about the current president of Brazil, out of competition.

And Emma Stone will team up again with Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos in "Kinds of Kindness".

"Poor Things", their 2023 collaboration, won Lanthimos the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, while Stone picked up an Oscar for Best Actress.

Writer-director Paul Schrader reunites with his "American Gigolo" star Richard Gere for "Oh Canada", and Oscar-winner Paolo Sorrentino pens another love letter to his native Naples with "Parthenope", starring Gary Oldman.

France's own Jacques Audiard a past winner of the Palme d'Or, is back with "Emilia Perez", billed as a musical comedy about a Mexican cartel boss undergoing a sex-change operation. Pop star-actor Selena Gomez appears in a supporting role.

But all eyes will be on Coppola's "Megalopolis", marking the return of "The Godfather" director to Cannes at the age of 85.

He has twice won the Palme d'Or - for "The Conversation" (1974) and, controversially, for "Apocalypse Now" (1979), which was not even finished when it premiered at the festival.

Agencies contributed to this report.