Cannes Film Festival 2014: Andrea Arnold To Head Jury of Critics Week

Andrea Arnold has been named the head of this year's Critics Week Grand Jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

The British director will head the 53rd edition of the Semaine de la Critique sidebar,  which is also made up of four international journalists. The jury ends up picking a winner from one of the seven feature films in competition.

Last year the winner of the sidebar was Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza's "Salvo." The film later went on to appear at the Chicago and Stockholm International Film Festivals as well as New Directors/New Films.

Arnold was happy the news and stated, "I was so excited when Milk screened in La Semaine de la Critique that I kept crashing into things. When I got home I counted 19 bruises.  I am just as excited about being asked to be president of the jury of the Nespresso Grand Prize for La Semaine de la Critique and I think it might be a good idea to put away the china. I see it as an adventure. I will go into it open. See what and who comes."

Arnold is a veteran of Cannes as many of her films have appeared at the festival.  Her short film "Milk" was shown at Critic's  Week in 1998 and in 2012 she served as jury member in the competition slate. She also won an Oscar for her short film "Wasp" in 2003. Her first two films "Red Road and "Fish Tank" later went on to win the Jury Prize at Cannes.

In 2011 the director stepped away from Cannes and presented an adaptation of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights" at the Venice Film Festival. The film went on to receive mixed reviews and did not reach the same audience, her previous films did.

The La Semaine de la Critique aims to award one of the emerging artists from the competition with the Nespresso Grand Prize. The competition is befgin supported by Nespresso. The critics week  sidebar has awarded its top prize in the previous years to such filmmakers as Guillermo del Toro (Cronos, 1993), Gaspar Noe (I stand alone, 1998), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Amores Perros, 2000) and Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, 2011).

The Cannes Film Festival is one of the most important film events in the world. It has the largest film market in the world and it sees over 4000 films screened. The competition slate is also recognized for its Palm d'Or award. Last year the controversial "Blue is the Warmest Color" was recipient of the award. Joel and Ethan Coen's latest film "Inside Llewyn Davis" also premiered at the event where it won the Grand Jury Prize. Additionally it is also where J.C Chandor's "All is Lost" made it world premiere as well as Jim Jarmush's "Only Lovers Left Alive," Alexander Payne's Nebraska," Steven Soderbergh's "Behind the Candelabra" and Nicolas Winding Refn's "Only God Forgives."

The 2014 Cannes Film Festival will be held on May 14 to 25. The opening night film will be "Grace of Monaco" and the official selection will be announced on April 17.