Double Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett has been selected to head the jury at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
The Australian actress will be the President of the Jury of the Festival de Cannes, that will pick the award winners.
The Cannes Film Festival organizers did not name the rest of the jury.
Usually, a judging committee consisting of actors and film-makers choose the winner of the Palme d'Or - the influential Cannes award for best film a panel.
The 71st edition of the prestigious Film Festival will take place in May, the first to be held since the sexual harassment allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein stormed the show industry.
Naming Blanchett is being hailed as a political choice.
The 48-year old actress was among a group of Hollywood women who recently launched an initiative to help fight systemic sexual harassment in the film industry and other workplaces.
Blanchett is also a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,
Blanchett said she is humbled by the privilege and responsibility of presiding over this year's jury. "This festival plays a pivotal role in bringing the world together to celebrate story; that strange and vital endeavor that all peoples share, understand and crave," she added.
Pierre Lescure, Festival de Cannes President and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, said she will be "a committed President, a passionate woman and a big-hearted spectator."
She's the third female jury president at Cannes in the last decade.
Blanchette won the 2014 Oscar for best actress for her performance in Blue Jasmine, ten years after she was awarded for best supporting actress in The Aviator in which she played Katharine Hepburn - it is the first time that an actress has won an Oscar for playing another actress.
by RTT Staff Writer
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