Cannes jury taps Sofia Coppola, Willem Dafoe

Director Sofia Coppola and actors Willem Dafoe and Gael Garcia Bernale will help pick the winner of the 2014 Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's top honour.

Organizers of the annual movie celebration, considered one of the world's top three film festivals, unveiled today eight international starswho are joining jury chief andNew Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion on this year's panel.

• Jane Campion to head Cannes film fest jury

Filmmaker Coppola, the first American woman to be a best-director Oscar nominee, is back at Cannes again as part of the jury after having previously screened her films The Virgin Suicides, Marie-Antoinette and The Bling Ring at the fest.

Fellow American Dafoe, the prolific actor known for both stage and screen work, was also selected, along with Mexican actor-filmmaker Bernale (best known for Y Tu Mama Tambien, Babeland Bad Education)

Rounding out the jury are:

• China's Jia Zhangke, the filmmaker behind the contemplative Still Life and the shocking A Touch of Sin, winner of 2013's best screenplay prize at Cannes.
• Iranian actress Leila Hatami, seen worldwide in Asghar Farhadi's widely acclaimed and award-winning dramaA Separation.
• Veteran French actress Carole Bouquet.
• South Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon, a popular performer who was her country's first to win the best-actress honour at Cannes (in 2007 for Secret Sunshine).
• Danish filmmaker Nicholas Winding Refn, best known for his influential action series Pusher and his recent Ryan Gosling-led Cannes entries Drive and Only God Forgives.

The jury of nine will determine the festival's top winners from the 18 films in competition this year, revealing the award-recipients on May 24.

• David Cronenberg, Xavier Dolan to compete at Cannes

A record three Canadian features are among the movies in the running for the Palme d'Or, including David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars, Atom Egoyan's The Captive and Xavier Dolan's Mommy.

Other notable competitors include Mike Leigh, Tommy Lee Jones, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Michel Hazavinicius, Ken Loach and film legend Jean-Luc Godard.

• Cannes film fest sidebars tap Quebec filmmakers

The 2014 Cannes Film Festival runs May 14-25.