SEAN PENN, President of the Jury of the 61st Festival de Cannes
Sean Penn, American actor and director, is named President of the Jury of the 61st Festival de Cannes, due to take place from May 14 - 25, 2008
 Press
Release from 01/05/08 - 18:42 h: Sean Penn has become an American film icon in a career spanning nearly three decades. Penn won the Best Male Performance Prize at the Festival de Cannes in 1997 for She’s so Lovely by Nick Cassavetes.
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"In the last few years - Penn declared, upon accepting the invitation extended by Gilles Jacob and Thierry Frémaux - it seems there has been a rejuvenation of cinema building worldwide; increasingly thoughtful, provocative, moving, and imaginative films by talented filmmakers: that a new generation of filmmaking may have begun. The Cannes Film Festival has long been the epicenter in the discovery of those new waves of filmmakers from all over the world. I very much look forward to participating in this year's festival as President of the jury."
He has been nominated four times for the Academy Award as Best Actor: in Dead Man Walking (Winner Best Actor /1995 Berlin Film Festival) by Tim Robbins, Sweet and Lowdown by Woody Allen, I am Sam by Jessie Nelson and won the Oscar in 2004 for his performance in Clint Eastwood's Mystic River, which was presented in competition at Cannes.
Socially committed, the enfant terrible of Hollywood seems to succeed at everything he undertakes: the exceptional actor is also a subtle filmmaker, who gains the respect of critics and public alike for his humanist values. His first film, The Indian Runner, which he wrote, directed and produced, was presented at Cannes in 1991.
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