Thursday, May 18, 2006

Wong Kar-Wai orders casual style for Cannes jurors

Cannes jury president Wong Kar-Wai emphasized that smoking and sunglasses would be allowed during jury meetings as the 2006 Festival de Cannes kicked off Wednesday.

Wong dressed in his trademark dark sunglasses was greeted at the opening with a clip from his movie 2046 and a live opera performance.

Cannes jury president Wong Kar-Wai with fellow jurors Monica Belluci and Zhang Ziyi.
Cannes jury president Wong Kar-Wai with fellow jurors Monica Belluci and Zhang Ziyi. AP photo from Yahoo News.

His compatriot, Zhang Ziyi, joins him on the jury and both fielded questions in Mandarin from the journalist pool. Zhang at age 27 is one of youngest Cannes jurors ever.

The entire jury consists of Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, U.S. actor Samuel L. Jackson , Argentine director Lucrecia Martel, Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, Italian actress Monica Bellucci , British actor/director Tim Roth , British actress Helena Bonham-Carter and French director Patrice Leconte.