Belgian director, scriptwriter and producer Jean-Pierre DARDENNE who along with his brother Luc won Grand Prix at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for The Kid with a Bike in 2011, after winning two Palmes d’Or, first in 1999 for Rosetta and then in 2005 for The Child, and the prize for best screenplay in 2008 for Lorna’s Silence, will preside over the jury for the Cinéfondation and short films at this year’s festival.

The jury will include Arsinée KHANJIAN (Canadian actress), Karim AÏNOUZ (Brazilian director and scriptwriter), Emmanuel CARRÈRE (French writer, scriptwriter and director) and YU Lik-wai (Chinese director of photography and filmmaker).

The short-film competition, composed of previously unscreened works, has in the past discovered artists who have risen to fame: Jane CAMPION and Nuri Bilge CEYLAN, Xavier GIANNOLI, Lynne RAMSAY and Catalin MITULESCU all received their first recognition with a short film in competition in Cannes.

For its part, the Sélection de la Cinéfondation, created in 1998, has screened the student films of many directors whose talent was subsequently confirmed with a feature film, including Vimukthi JAYASUNDARA (Caméra d’Or 2005),  Corneliu PORUMBOIU (Caméra d’Or 2006), Kornél MUNDRUCZÓ (In Competition 2008 & 2010) and Jessica HAUSNER (Un Certain Regard 2001 & 2004).