After all the dust has settled at the Cannes Film Festival, after all the movies have been seen and all the #HotTakes tweeted about, the Jury adjourns to their blindingly white, hermetically sealed judging chambers to hash out the awards for those films in competition. (Think half War Room from Dr. Strangelove, half white room from 2001: A Space Odyssey.) But for the first time in the festival’s 68-year history, two people will sit at the head of the comically long, obsidian conference table around which the Jury convenes. Joel and Ethan Coen have been selected as the presidents (plural!) of the 68th Cannes Film Festival Jury.
Though the remaining members of the Jury will be announced in April, the Cannes organizers proudly revealed that the Coen brothers will head up this year’s squad of deciders. The Co-Bros are no strangers to the Croisette, either. They first took home the Palme d’Or in a unanimous decision for Barton Fink in 1991 (where Joel Coen also received the Best Director designation), but most recently won the Grand Prix in 2013 for Inside Llewyn Davis. In addition, they won the Best Director award in 1996 and again in 2001, for Fargo and The Man Who Wasn’t There, respectively. Four other Coen brothers films (Hudsucker Proxy, The Ladykillers, No Country For Old Men, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?) have competed for the Palme d’Or over the years. So yes, by this point they probably have a “usual” at the local cafés.
The announcement came bundled with a characteristically droll statement from the Coens themselves:
“We look forward to returning to Cannes this year. We welcome as always the opportunity to watch movies there from all over the world. Cannes is a festival that has been important to us since the very beginning of our career. Presiding over the Jury is a special honor, since we have never heretofore been president of anything. We will issue further proclamations at the appropriate time.”
What fun presidents they will be! Now I’m imagining them wearing fur capes and crowns, orb-and-scepter in hand. If anyone proficient in PhotoShop could pop Joel and/or Ethan’s head on here, that’d probably be pretty funny.