Director Spike Lee to head 2020 Cannes Film Festival jury

FILE PHOTO: 91st Academy Awards - Oscars Photo Room - Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 24, 2019. Spike Lee arrives backstage with his Best Adapted Screenplay award for "BlackKklansman." REUTERS/Mike Segar

U.S. director Spike Lee has been named president of the jury for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, organizers said on Tuesday

The 62-year-old filmmaker, who succeeds Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, will head the panel that will award the 73rd Palme d’Or prize.

"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", Lee said in a statement.

FILE PHOTO: The SAG-AFTRA Foundation 3rd Patron of the Artists Awards - Arrivals - Beverly Hills, California, U.S., November 8, 2018 - Patron of the Artists Awards Recipient Spike Lee poses. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

His latest movie "BlacKkKlansman" won the Cannes Grand Prix in 2018.

This year's Cannes, the biggest gathering of the global movie industry, will run from May 12 to 23.

The other members of the jury and the films on the program will be announced mid-April.

FILE PHOTO: 71st Cannes Film Festival - Photocall after Closing ceremony - Cannes, France, May 19, 2018. Director Spike Lee with Grand Prix Award. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

(Reporting by Matthieu Protard; Editing by Andrew Heavens)