Each year, the Festival de Cannes brings together and explores a diverse array of nationalities, cinematographies, sensibilities, genres, and themes. This spirit of artistic curiosity has also defined the career of Juliette Binoche, who has appeared in around 70 films over 40 years. Her breakthrough role in André Téchiné’s Rendez-vous, which premiered at Cannes in 1985, marked the beginning of a journey she often describes as: “I was born at the Festival de Cannes.”
I’m looking forward to sharing these life experiences with the members of the Jury and the public. In 1985, I walked up the steps for the first time with the enthusiasm and uncertainty of a young actress; I never imagined I’d return 40 years later in the honorary role of President of the Jury. I appreciate the privilege, the responsibility and the absolute need for humility.
JULIETTE BINOCHE,
PRESIDENT OF THE FEATURE FILM JURY 2025
Four decades later, Binoche has become an international icon, inspiring unexpected collaborations and championing screenplays close to her heart. Her instinctive navigation of the global creative landscape has given her an aura that draws filmmakers from a truly borderless constellation: Michael Haneke (Austria), David Cronenberg and Abel Ferrara (USA), Olivier Assayas, Leos Carax and Claire Denis (France), Amos Gitaï (Israel), Naomi Kawase and Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan), Krzysztof Kieślowski (Poland), and Hou Hsiao-hsien (Taiwan), among others.
No film better captures this boundless appetite for artistic exploration than Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy, which won her the Best Actress award at Cannes in 2010. In this universally resonant story—directed by an Iranian filmmaker, set in the Tuscan countryside, and co-starring a British opera singer—Binoche masterfully blurs the lines between love and art, reality and illusion. Following her fifth film in the Official Selection, four more followed, culminating in Trần Anh Hùng’s The Taste of Things in 2023.
Winner of the most prestigious awards (Oscar, BAFTA, César, Best Actress accolades at the Berlin and Venice film festivals…), Binoche has never pursued mere virtuosity, choosing instead to trust in raw emotion and the fleeting authenticity of a moment. As Louis Malle observed after Damage, she possesses “a love affair with the camera, and a stupefying presence and intensity.” Her performances showcase an impressive range—consider just her films with Bruno Dumont, from the profound (Camille Claudel 1915) to the absurd (Slack Bay). She consistently embraces freedom and challenges herself, a quality that makes her both versatile and unpredictable in her art—or rather, arts. Her talent extends beyond film to television (The Staircase, The New Look), theatre (Ivo van Hove), dance (co-created with Akram Khan), music (Alexandre Tharaud), and painting.
Binoche’s voice also carries weight beyond the screen. A passionate advocate for education, undocumented migrants, and human rights in Iran, she famously protested at Cannes against the imprisonment of Jafar Panahi, holding a placard with his name on stage. Now the newly appointed President of the European Film Academy, she stands firmly in the essential wake of the #MeToo movement, openly sharing the difficult experiences of her early career. She also frequently leverages her influence to raise awareness of the ecological crises facing our planet.
Her unwavering commitment to justice is reminiscent of Olivia de Havilland, who famously defied the dominance of Hollywood’s studio system. De Havilland was President of the Cannes Jury in 1965, passing the baton to another legendary woman, Cinecittà’s own Sophia Loren, 60 years ago. In this spirit of legacy and continuity, Juliette Binoche’s presidency at this year’s Festival de Cannes both honours and unites the stars of the past.
