Lupita Nyong’o has been named the next Berlin Film Festival Jury President, after Kristen Stewart, who served as Jury President in 2023.
The “Black Panther” star will now preside over the international film festival “The Berlinale” for its 2024 edition, according to Euronews.
According to the Nairobi Wire, the forty-year-old will be the first Black person in the festival’s 74-year history to lead the panel that selects the winners of the prestigious Golden and Silver Bear top honors.
“Lupita Nyong’o embodies what we like in cinema,” Berlinale directors Maritte Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian said in a statement. “Lupita Nyong’o embodies what we like in cinema: versatility in embracing different projects, addressing different audiences, and consistency to one idea that is quite recognisable in her characters, as diverse as they may look.”
According to Vanguard, the Hollywood celebrity was born in Mexico City to Kenyan parents and grew up in Kenya before moving to the United States to study film and theater and work on various film productions.
In 2009, she wrote, filmed, and produced “In My Genes,” a documentary on Kenya’s albino people. Her first major acting break occurred when she was hired as Patsey in Steve McQueen’s hard-hitting biopic “12 Years a Slave,” for which she earned the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Since then, Nyong’o has been in a number of blockbuster films, including the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Jungle Book, both Black Panther flicks, and a crucial role in Jordan Peele’s “Us.”
The Kenyan-Mexican actor appears on Broadway on occasion and will release the New York Times best-selling children’s book “Sulwe” in 2020. She also received a Tony nomination for her performance in Danai Gurira’s Broadway musical “Eclipsed.”
The Berlinale, which runs from February 15 to February 25, is one of Europe’s top three film festivals, alongside Cannes and Venice, and serves as an early annual launchpad for the industry.