Gilles Jacob, born 22 June 1930 in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, is a critic, essayist, filmmaker and personality in the world of French cinema. First managing director of the Cannes Film Festival, he became, in 2001, the President.
On the proposal of Michel d’Ornano, Minister of Culture, he was elected on September 30 1977, General Delegate of the Festival, responsible for thousands of movies to see and to choose candidates for the Palme d’Or. Regardless of the diplomatic risks on behalf of freedom of expression, the Festival broadcasted in 1978 as a “surprise film” Man of Marble, by Polish film director Andrzej Wajda, censored in his country as critical of the regime. Then, for his second selection, in 1979: Apocalypse Now, The Tin Drum, Hair, Prova d’orchestra and The Great Traffic Jam. During a quarter of a century, with Robert Favre le Bret and Pierre Viot as presidents, he opened Cannes film industries around the world, and chose to highlight filmmakers and actors rather… read more
Gilles Jacob, born 22 June 1930 in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, is a critic, essayist, filmmaker and personality in the world of French cinema. First managing director of the Cannes Film Festival, he became, in 2001, the President.
On the proposal of Michel d’Ornano, Minister of Culture, he was elected on September 30 1977, General Delegate of the Festival, responsible for thousands of movies to see and to choose candidates for the Palme d’Or. Regardless of the diplomatic risks on behalf of freedom of expression, the Festival broadcasted in 1978 as a “surprise film” Man of Marble, by Polish film director Andrzej Wajda, censored in his country as critical of the regime. Then, for his second selection, in 1979: Apocalypse Now, The Tin Drum, Hair, Prova d’orchestra and The Great Traffic Jam. During a quarter of a century, with Robert Favre le Bret and Pierre Viot as presidents, he opened Cannes film industries around the world, and chose to highlight filmmakers and actors rather than producers and policy makers. Wishing for Cannes to showcase a new generation of filmmakers, he created in 1978 the prize of the Camera d’Or, awarded to a first film, and the section Un Certain Regard, which presents an alternative selection. He founded in 1991 the Lessons of Cinema and in 1998 the Cinéfondation for student films that are selected by his son Laurent.
Jacob transformed the Cannes Film Festival, by staging an international media event which becomes the world’s largest art event. He built a new palace festival – criticized, nicknamed “The Bunker”; favored the presence of media and negotiated distribution ceremonies for Canal+ in 1986. Behind the party media, he also made an appointment in the vital economic sector with the development of the film market; aimed at providing the institution with a budget of 20 million Euros, financed half by a club of private sector partners (Canal+, L’Oreal, Renault , Chopard, Air France…), which provides access to independence vis-à-vis political power; independence that Gilles Jacob also takes care to cultivate against pressures of film professionals. Since the early 2000s, he also organizes retrospectives and tributes and film lessons.
In 2001, he was elected president of the Cannes Festival, leaving the burden of selecting, from 2004, to Thierry Fremaux, who succeeded him as artistic delegate. He retains a key role in the direction of the festival, setting the editorial and caring relationships with private partners and public institutions.
A respected figure in French cinema, Gilles Jacob has chaired the Prix Louis Delluc since 1993, and serves on the boards of the theater in September, since 1992, and Bifi since 1996. He was also a director of Films A2, between 1980 and 1992, and directed the film collection at the Library Hatier, between 1979 and 1992. In 2002 he was appointed vice president of the supervisory board of Canal+, but was forced to give up his position to face the controversy created by the potential conflict between the world of the French cinema chain, the first television broadcaster and producer of films. —wikipedia (translated)
