American director and producer Spike Lee has been asked to chair the Cannes Film Festival jury.

If he accepts, he will be the first black filmmaker to chair the jury.

In a video message, he talked about Cannes, “Cannes will always have a deep spot in my heart.”

Cannes festival will happen in July this year.

“Book my flight now. My wife Tonya and I, we’re coming,” he said.

However, coronavirus cases are again increasing in France. Festival president Pierre Lescure said in a statement, “Throughout the months of uncertainty we’ve just been through, Spike Lee has never stopped encouraging us,”

“We could not have hoped for a more powerful personality to chart our troubled times.”

Lee is a prominent filmmaker and has made recognition in Cannes. He got fame at the festival in 1986 with She’s Gotta Have It. Three years later, he joined the event again.

Many movies of the black director have been screened at Cannes. These include Summer of Sam and BlacKkKlansman.