The director of Barbie, Greta Gerwig, will be the jury president at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

It was just announced about her position. This will be the 77th Cannes Film Festival jury, according to CBC. Additionally, she'll be the first female American director and the youngest to receive the honor since 1966.

Greta Gerwig will be jury president at the Cannes Film Festival

“As a cinephile, Cannes has always been the pinnacle of what the universal language of movies can be,” Gerwig said. “Being in the place of vulnerability, in a dark theatre filled with strangers, watching a brand-new film is my favorite place to be.”

According to The Guardian, the festival said, “Gerwig manages to combine what was previously judged to be incompatible: delivering arthouse blockbusters, narrowing the gap between art and industry, exploring contemporary feminist issues with deft as well as depth, and declaring her demanding artistic ambition from within an economic model that she embraces in order to put to better use.”

Jury president is quite an achievement. The film industry selects the position partly due to excellence, which Gerwig has had — especially with her massive hit Barbie.

Her job will be leading a jury of filmmakers and actors worldwide, who consist of A-listers and high-profile people in the industry. They'll be the faces of the festival and will choose the winner of the highest prize, the Palme d ‘Or.

Iris Knobloch, Cannes festival president, noted that the director was the “obvious choice.” Additionally, the fest's general delegate, Thierry Frémaux, said she was “the representative of an era that is breaking down barriers and mixing genres, and thereby elevating the values of intelligence and humanism.”

Greta Gerwig's credits include Nights and Weekends, Lady Bird, and Little Women. She has received Oscar nominations for best director and best original script for Lady Bird. Additionally, she was nominated for 2020's Little Women. As for Barbie, it's brought in over $1.4 billion worldwide.