Gerwig to preside over Cannes jury
Greta Gerwig, actor, writer and film director, notably for the blockbuster movie “Barbie,” will preside over the jury of the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May, the first American female director to be named jury president, the festival announced Thursday. At 40, Gerwig is also the youngest person to take on that role since Sofia Loren, who headed the Cannes jury in 1966 at age 31, the festival noted in a statement.
“I’m overwhelmed, enthusiastic and touched with humility,” the statement quoted Gerwig as saying. “I can’t wait to discover what voyages await us!” She described Cannes as “the pinnacle of what the universal language of movies can be.”
Festival officials, too, were excited about their choice for jury president for the festival on the French Riviera, a premiere film extravaganza running May 14 through 25.
“This is an obvious choice, since Greta
Gerwig so audaciously embodies the renewal of world cinema, for which Cannes is each year both the forerunner and the sounding board,” said festival president Iris Knobloch and general delegate Thierry Frémaux.
Gerwig also marks
“an era that is breaking down barriers and mixing genres, and thereby elevating the values of intelligence and humanism,” they added.
Gerwig began her career as an actor before moving to writing movies, then co-directing and finally flying solo in the director’s chair, notably with “Lady Bird” in 2017 — which was nominated for five Academy Awards, including best director — followed by “Little Women,” and then “Barbie,” released in July.
Noah to host Grammys for fourth time: As the age-old adage goes, don’t mess with success. The Grammy Awards aren’t, bringing Trevor Noah back as host in 2024. Noah shared the news Wednesday on his podcast “What Now? With Trevor Noah.”
For those keeping count, the 66th Grammys will mark his fourth consecutive year of hosting duties.
SZA heads into the 2024 ceremony with a leading nine nominations. Phoebe Bridgers has the secondmost nominations, with seven. Six of those are with her band boygenius. Taylor
Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Brandy Clark, Jon Batiste and producer Jack Antonoff also earned six.
The 2024 Grammy Awards will air Feb. 4 live on CBS and Paramount+.
Duff pregnant with fourth child: Former Disney Channel star Hilary Duff is pregnant with her fourth child. The actor posted a photo of her family Christmas card on Instagram on Tuesday morning, which she captioned “Surprise Surprise!”
“So much for silent nights,” read the card along with a picture of Duff, her husband, Matthew Koma, and her three kids. A message on the other side of the Yuletide craft made the pregnancy announcement: “Buckle up Buttercups, we’re adding one more to this crazy bunch.”
Dec. 15 birthdays: Singer Cindy Birdsong is 84. Actor Don Johnson is 74. Director Julie Taymor is 71. Bassist Paul Simonon is 68. Actor Helen Slater is 60. Actor Michael Shanks is
53. Actor Stuart Townsend is 51. Actor Michelle Dockery is 42. Actor Camilla Luddington is 40. Guitarist Alana Haim is 32. Actor Maude Apatow is 26.