Chinese director to head Cannes jury

Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese to be named best director at Cannes, will be president of the Cannes Film Festival jury in 2006.

He is the first Chinese filmmaker ever to head the panel at Europe's premier film festival, held annually on the French Riviera.

Wong won best director accolades in 1997 at Cannesfor Happy Together, his tale of a strained relationship between two Chinese gay lovers living in Buenos Aires.

Wong made his first appearance at Cannes in 1989 with As Tears Go By, about a low-level triad member thinking about leaving the gangster life for love.

His 2000 film In the Mood for Love premiered at Cannes to worldwide acclaim. Set in Hong Kong in 1962, it follows a furtive affair between two married lovers. In 2004 he entered the sequel, 2046,a stylish and affecting fable about love and memory and the desire for change.

Wong is much loved among the international art-house set for his dreamy settings and romantic themes.

"Every town has its own language. In Cannes, it's the language of dreams," Wong said in a statement issued by festival organizers Wednesday. "I am eager to share the dreams of the greatest talents of contemporary cinema with my jury comrades."

Wong was born in Shanghai, but moved to Hong Kong at the age of five. He joined a screenwriters program in 1980 and wrote several films before directing his first film, As Tears Go By in 1989.

Six of Wong's films are on the list of the Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures selected by the Hong Kong Film Awards last year to mark 100 years of Chinese cinema. They areDays of Being Wild (1991), Chungking Express (1994), Ashes of Time (1994), Happy Together, As Tears Go By and In the Mood for Love.

Wong's next film, The Lady from Shanghai, is in pre-production.

The 59th Cannes Film Festival will be held May 17 to 28. Last year, the Cannes jury was headed by Sarajevo-born director Emir Kusturica and gave the top prize to the Dardenne brothers' film The Child.

Kusturica cast a shadow over the festival bysaying the quality of movies had fallen short of expectations.

"There is an old Chinese saying: One can never expect the wind, but should always keep one's window open," said Wong. "Along with my fellow jurors, I look forward to sharing the dreams created by some of the most gifted talents in contemporary cinema. And our goal will be to keep our windows open as wide as possible."