After stepping down from the role due personal reasons in 2024, Spanish filmmaker, screenwriter and producer Rodrigo Sorogoyen has been invited back at Cannes’ Critics Week to preside over the jury of the 64th edition.
Sorogoyen is best known for delivering films and series boasting a political perspective on the world. His most recent success is The Beasts” which premiered at Cannes and went on to win nine Goya Awards and even nab France’s Cesar Award for best foreign film in 2023.
Critics Week, which is curated by Ava Cahen and champions first and second films, has assembled an eclectic jury around Sorogoyen, including Oscar-winning British actor Daniel Kaluuya, Moroccan journalist and songwriter Jihane Bougrine, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies, and Indonesian producer Yulia Evina Bhara.
“To offer Rodrigo Sorogoyen the presidency of the Semaine de la Critique Jury is to show him all the love we have for his cinema, but also our confidence in his benevolent eye and judgment,” said Cahen, artistic director of Critics Week. “It’s a great honor to present him with the first and second films in the 2025 selection. A lot of emotions too”.
Speaking of Kaluuya, Cahen said she “discovered him in the ‘Black Mirror’ series before admiring his performances in films by Jordan Peel or Shaka King.”
“He’s an ardent defender of independent cinema,” Cahen said, adding that they met at Sundance last January. “I immediately sensed in him a boundless desire for cinematic discovery. I was touched by this, and definitely convinced to invite him to join the jury this year,” Cahen continued.
Sorogoyen, meanwhile, praised Critics Week for “its commitment to supporting and believing in young filmmakers.”
“A parallel selection that only accepts short films and first or second features allows for a unique springboard to launch and strengthen young directors’ careers,” Sorogoyen continued, adding that “without such spaces, we would keep rewarding, screening, and giving voice only to those who have already established their paths, overlooking emerging concerns and forms.”
Sorogoyen and his jury will present Critics Week’s Ami Paris Grand Prize for best feature film; the French Touch Prize of the Jury; the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for best actor or actress; and the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize for best short film. Ami is the French fashion brand that has recently joined Critics’ Week as its new sponsor.
This year’s Critics Week edition will take place May 14-22. Some of the sidebar’s recent discoveries include Charlotte Welles’ “Aftersun” which earned Paul Mescal an Oscar nomination for best actor in 2023.
