Penn to head Cannes festival jury

Sean Penn, the Oscar-winning actor-cum-director once known as Hollywood's bad boy, has been chosen to head the jury of the 2008 Cannes film festival. Announcing the appointment this morning in France, the festival's artistic director Thierry Fremaux said that Penn "represents the independent American cinema as well as a vision of America which we like."

The news comes just days after Penn's wife, the actress Robin Wright Penn, filed for divorce after 11 years of marriage.

Penn will oversee the jury that awards the Palme d'Or for best film. By the time the festival comes along on May 14, he could be the holder of any number of awards for his harrowing film of a young man's journey to his death in Alaska, Into the Wild. It has been nominated as best film by the Screen Actors Guild, and a SAG nomination is seen as an indicator of Oscar chances in February. (Continued below)

Penn, 47, responding to the Cannes announcement, said: "The Cannes Film Festival has long been the epicentre in the discovery of new waves of filmmakers. I very much look forward to participating."

Penn has won a Cannes award himself in the past - in 1997 for best male performance in She's So Lovely by Nick Cassavetes. His only Oscar so far was for his acting in the 2003 Clint Eastwood film, Mystic River.