French movie director Patrice Chereau has been chosen to head this year's Cannes Film Festival jury.

The director is best known for the historical drama La Reine Margot, which won the Cannes Jury Prize in 1994.

Chereau takes over the reins from last year's jury president, David Lynch, for the festival which runs from 14 to 25 May.

Chereau's most recent directorial work was the film Intimacy, a love story based on a novel by Hanif Kureshi.

He has also worked on many theatre and opera productions during his career.

Patrice Chereau has himself won at Cannes

He said he hopes to make this year's edition into "a tool of reflection to try to understand where the cinema industry is at".

"And above all, to watch films and love them," he added

Cannes festival president Gilles Jacob said Chereau's work "makes him a scrupulous eyewitness and very open to all types of cinema today and all cinema of the world".

Roman Polanski's The Pianist, a film about brilliant Polish musician who escapes the Warsaw ghetto, won the prestigious Palme d'Or award at Cannes 2002.

Actresses Michelle Yeoh and Sharon Stone were also part of the Cannes jury who had the task of picking a winner from a host of international films.

The complete line-up for this year's festival has yet to be announced.