Tim Burton heads 2010 Cannes Film Festival jury

Tim Burton Copyright Leah Gallo

Since he exploded onto the radars of cinema goers in 1988 with the comedy horror fantasy Beetlejuice, Burton has worked in every genre of the industry. Although his early features had already attracted attention when he was given Peewee’s Big Adventure to direct in 1985, it was Beetlejuice that put him on the map.

In 1989 he was hired by Warner to do the highly acclaimed first Batman film (starring Michael Keaton with Jack Nicholson as the Joker), and followed that with the superbly quirky Edward Scissorhands, with Johnny Depp as the young man who looked human but had been left with scissors for hands after the untimely death of his creator.

Over the last two decades the indefatiguable director has been behind a string of high profile movies, ranging from the gothic fantasy of Sleepy Hollow to Mars Attack and Planet of the Apes (science fiction) to the riotous adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the multi-award winning musical Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Burton fans are now eagerly awaiting the release in March this year of his next work, a 3D adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, starring his close friend Johnny Depp who has had the lead role in many of his most famous movies, and Helena Bonham Carter.

The other eight members of the jury and the films selected to compete for the coveted Palme d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival will be announced in April. CL