Park Chan-wook, the acclaimed South Korean filmmaker best known for Oldboy and Decision to Leave, has been chosen to preside over the jury of the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
His appointment marks a historic first, as he becomes the festival’s first South Korean jury president.
He takes over from French actor Juliette Binoche, whose jury awarded the Palme d’Or last year to Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident.
Park’s relationship with Cannes spans decades.
His breakthrough film Oldboy premiered at the festival in 2004, winning the Grand Prize and later achieving cult status.
He returned with Thirst in 2009, which earned the Jury Prize, followed by The Handmaiden in 2016, and Decision to Leave, which secured him the Best Director award in 2022.
Most recently, his film No Other Choice earned three Golden Globe nominations.
Festival president Iris Knobloch and director Thierry Frémaux praised Park’s “inventiveness, visual mastery, and penchant for capturing the multiple impulses of women and men with strange destinies.”
They described his work as “truly memorable moments of contemporary cinema.”
Park’s selection is a milestone for Cannes.
He is the first South Korean filmmaker to lead the jury and only the second Asian filmmaker to do so, following Wong Kar-wai’s presidency two decades ago.
Reflecting on the significance of cinema in today’s divided world, Park said,
“In this age of mutual hatred and division, I believe that the simple act of gathering in a theater to watch a single film together, our breaths and heartbeats aligning, is itself a moving and universal expression of solidarity.”
Cannes has long embraced South Korean cinema.
Im Kwon-taek won Best Director in 2002 for Strokes of Fire.
Bong Joon-ho made history in 2019 when Parasite became the first Korean film to win the Palme d’Or, later sweeping the Academy Awards.
The festival has also showcased a new generation of Korean filmmakers, including Hong Sang-soo (Tale of Cinema), Kim Ki-duk (Breath), Lee Chang-dong (Poetry), Kim Jee-woon (A Bittersweet Life), Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan), Byun Sung-hyun (The Merciless), and Lee Won-tae (The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil).
With Park Chan-wook at the helm, Cannes 2026 is expected to spotlight not only his distinctive vision but also the continued global rise of South Korean cinema.
