Payal Kapadia, Halle Berry and More Join 2025 Cannes Jury: Here's Everything We Know So Far

The Cannes Film Festival has announced the full jury for its main competition for the 78th edition, with Halle Berry, Payal Kapadia, Alba Rohrwacher, Leïla Slimani, Dieudo Hamadi, Hong Sangsoo, Carlos Reygadas, and Jeremy Strong joining Jury President Juliette Binoche. The festival will run from May 13 to May 24.

The jury will decide the winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or and several other top awards, including the Grand Prix, Jury Prize, and honors for best director, actress, and actor.

Berry, the first African-American woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress for Monster's Ball (2002), brings decades of experience across both major blockbusters and independent films. Her recent work includes John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and the 2024 release Never Let Go, which she also co-produced. She made her directorial debut with Bruised in 2020.

Indian filmmaker Kapadia made history at Cannes last year by winning the Grand Prix for All We Imagine As Light, ending a 30-year absence of Indian films in competition. The project began during her residency at La Cinéfondation in 2019.

Italian actress Rohrwacher is a Cannes regular, frequently collaborating with her sister, director Alice Rohrwacher, on films like The Wonders and Happy as Lazzaro, both of which received major festival awards. She has also worked with celebrated directors such as Luca Guadagnino and Matteo Garrone.

Moroccan novelist Slimani, best known for her second novel Lullaby, brings literary acclaim to the panel. Congolese filmmaker Hamadi previously screened Downstream to Kinshasa in the Official Selection in 2020 and is now working on the series Milimo, les âmes errantes de Kinshasa.

South Korean director Hong Sangsoo, a regular at Cannes, has had multiple films compete for major awards at the film festival, including Tale of Cinema and The Day After.

Mexican director Reygadas won the Caméra d'Or Special Award for Japon and has since received Cannes prizes for Silent Light and Post Tenebras Lux.

American actor Jeremy Strong joins after a standout year with roles in The Apprentice and Broadway's An Enemy of the People, for which he won a Tony Award. Strong, celebrated for his Emmy-winning portrayal of Kendall Roy in Succession, will next appear in Scott Cooper's Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere.

Robert De Niro will receive an honorary Palme d'Or; meanwhile, French actor Laurent Lafitte will host the opening and closing ceremonies. 

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