Elle Fanning, 'The Favourite' director Lanthimos picked for Cannes jury

PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. actress Elle Fanning, French graphic novelist Enki Bilal and the Oscar-nominated director of “The Favourite”, Yorgos Lanthimos, will be among jury members at the Cannes Film Festival next month, organizers said on Monday.

The world’s biggest cinema showcase kicks off on the French Riviera on May 14th, with Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu presiding over the panel that decides on prizes, including the top Palme D’Or award.

Split between four men and four women, the jury for the festival’s 72nd edition will also include Pawel Pawlikowski, the Polish filmmaker and screenwriter named best director at Cannes last year for the impossible love story “Cold War”.

Maimouna N’Diaye, who has directed documentaries and acted in films such as Otar Iosseliani’s “Chasing Butterflies” will also sit on the panel, alongside two other female directors.

Kelly Reichardt of the United States, whose “Wendy and Lucy” starring Michelle Williams was a contender for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard award in 2008, directed 2016’s “Certain Women” .

Italy’s Alicia Rohrwacher won best screenplay at Cannes last year for her film “Happy as Lazzaro”, a satirical fable about a peasant family.

French filmmaker Robin Campillo, who took Cannes by storm in 2017 with “120 BPM - Beats Per Minute”, winning the Grand Prix for his movie about an AIDS activist, will complete the line-up.

Comic book creator Bilal, best known for his Nikopol trilogy of science fiction novels, has also directed feature films, including 2004’s “Immortal”, organizers said.

Fanning, who started working in movies as a child, has starred in several films in competition at Cannes in recent years, including “The Beguiled” by Sofia Coppola in 2017.

The May 14-25 festival will kick off with U.S. director Jim Jarmusch’s latest film, “The Dead Don’t Die”.