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With his new role, Lee becomes the first African American to serve as jury president.

In a statement, Lee said he was \"shocked, happy, surprised and proud\" to learn of the opportunity, explaining that the festival had an \"impact on his film career.\"

Lee has had seven of his films premiere at Cannes, including \"Jungle Fever,\" \"Girl 6,\" \"Summer of Sam,\" \"Ten Minutes Older\" and 2018's \"BlacKkKlansman,\" which won him the festival's Grand Prix.

The writer and director noted that that Cannes served as a \"launching pad\" for that Oscar-nominated film, which won him the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay last year. He also commented on the history he was making with the new gig.

\"I'm honored to be the first person of the African diaspora (USA) to be named President of the Cannes Jury and of a main film festival,\" he added.

The official selections for Cannes 2020 and the rest of the jury will be announced in April.

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