Cannes Film Festival names two-time Palme winner Ruben Ostlund Jury President

Swedish director Ruben Ostlund, who is a two-time winner of the Palme d'Or and has helmed the hit film Triangle of Sadness, will head this year's Cannes Film Festival as jury president, organisers announced on Tuesday.

In a statement, Ostlund said that he was extremely "happy, proud and humbled to be entrusted with the honour" of leading the jury as president. He is the firstSwedish Cannes Jury President since Ingrid Bergman in 1973.

The 48-year-old director won the Cannes’ Palme d’Or for best film last year for Triangle of Sadness, a capitalism satire starring Woody Harrelson, Harris Dickinson, Dolly De Leon and the late Charlbi Dean.

The film left audiences squirming over its biting exploration of class divisions on a cruise ship and extended display of extreme sea sickness. The movie also earned him three nominations, for best picture, best director and best original screenplay, at next month's Oscars.

After his victory last year, Ostlund said his goal with audiences was "to entertain them, to (make them) ask themselves questions, to go out after the screening and have something to talk about".

Ostlund first won the Palme in 2017 for the art world satire The Square. The film had a similarly cringe-inducing look at the art world.

It is the third time a two-time Palme winner has led the jury in Cannes, following Francis Ford Coppola and Emir Kusturica, and the first time it has gone to someone the year after they won.

The selection of films is due to be announced next month, along with the other members of the jury.
Ostlund has become known for his scathing insights into the embarrassing foibles of the Western middle classes.

He first gained international attention with his 2014 film Force Majeure, which wasabout a father who goes on a ski trip and rescues his mobile phone before his children during an avalanche.The film won the runner-up Jury Prize in the secondary Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.

Three years later, he went straight to the top, winning the Palme d'Or for his movie starring American actor Elisabeth Moss and British star Dominic West.

(With inputs from agencies)

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