The French actress and Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche will serve as president of the International Jury at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival.
“I’m very pleased that Juliette is president of the 2019 International Jury. The festival shares a strong connection with her, and I’m very happy that she’ll be returning to the festival in this distinguished position,” says Dieter Kosslick, Director of the Berlinale.
“Thank you for this tremendous honour and invitation for your last Berlinale, dear Dieter, it means the world to me! I’m looking forward to this special rendezvous with the entire jury and will embrace my task with joy and care,” says Juliette Binoche.
Juliette Binoche is one of the most recognised actresses worldwide. She has captivated audiences and critics alike in over 70 films, and has garnered numerous awards and nominations. She was the first European actress to receive honours at the festivals in Berlin, Venice and Cannes.
Following her cinematic debut in 1983 in Liberty Belle by Pascal Kané, she was discovered as an upcoming talent in Jean-Luc Godard’s Je vous salue, Marie (Hail Mary, 1984). Juliette Binoche’s first leading role was in André Téchiné’s film Rendez-vous (1985), for which she received her first distinction, the Prix Romy Schneider, an award presented by the French media. Her first collaboration with Leos Carax, Mauvais Sang (The Night is Young, 1986) screened in Competition at the 1987 Berlinale.
Her international breakthrough was in Philip Kaufman’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), the film adaptation of the eponymous novel. Since then Juliette Binoche has worked internationally, both in the USA and in European productions. Her second collaboration with Leos Carax, Les amants du Pont-Neuf (The Lovers On The Bridge, 1991) screened in Forum at the 1992 Berlinale.
She received the Coppa Volpi in Venice in 1993 for her role in Trois Couleurs: Bleu (Three Colors: Blue) by Krzysztof Kieślowski, as well as a César Award, the national film award of France. That same year, she was awarded the Berlinale Camera at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Juliette Binoche won a Berlinale Silver Bear, a BAFTA and an Academy Award in 1997 for her role as the French-Canadian nurse Hana in The English Patient (1996, dir: Anthony Minghella).
Over the course of her multifaceted career to date, Juliette Binoche has worked with numerous renowned directors and actors. In Lasse Hallström’s romantic melodrama Chocolat (2000), which screened in Competition at the 2001 Berlinale, she played the lead alongside Hollywood star Johnny Depp. In 2004, she graced the Berlinale Competition screen again, this time with Samuel L. Jackson in Country Of My Skull (dir: John Boorman).
Following a role in Abbas Kiarostami’s Shirin in 2008, she was awarded the prize for Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her leading role in Kiarostami’s film Copie conforme (Certified Copy, 2010). In 2012, she played a leading role in Małgorzata Szumowska’s Elles, which screened in Berlinale Panorama.
In 2013, Juliette Binoche played the title role in Bruno Dumont’s Berlinale Competition selection Camille Claudel 1915. Her most recent on-screen appearance at the Berlinale was in the opening film of 2015, Nadie quiere la noche (Endless Night) by Isabel Coixet.
Juliette Binoche’s latest films are High Life (2018) by Claire Denis and Doubles vies (Non-Fiction, 2018) by Olivier Assayas.
