PARIS: Hollywood A-listers actress Nicole Kidman and director Ang Lee will join Steven Spielberg next month on the Cannes film festival jury, organisers said on Wednesday.

Australian Kidman won the best actress Academy Award for her portrayal of author Virginia Woolf in “The Hours” while Taiwan-born Lee was named best director earlier this year for his fantasy epic “Life of Pi”.

Lee, who has spent almost his entire professional career abroad, also won a best director Oscar for the gay cowboy drama “Brokeback Mountain” and his kung fu epic “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” won best foreign language film.

The other jury members named were: Indian actress Vidya Balan; Japanese director Naomi Kawase; Lynne Ramsay, Scottish director of “We Need to Talk About Kevin”; French actor/director Daniel Auteuil; Romanian director Cristian Mungiu; and “Inglourious Basterds” actor Christoph Waltz.

The jury, headed by Spielberg, will award the coveted Palme d’Or to one of the 19 films in competition at the May 15-26 festival.