President of the Jury, 2026Juan Antonio Bayona (Barcelona, 1975) is among the Spanish filmmakers of greatest international renown. Trained at ESCAC, he made his feature film debut with The Orphanage (2007), presented at Cannes. The film received 14 Goya Award nominations and won seven, including Best New Director.He achieved international scope with The Impossible (2012), based on a true story of survival during the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in 2004. The film won five Goya Awards and earned Naomi Watts an Oscar® nomination for Best Actress.In 2013, he won Spain’s National Film Award. Three years later, he premiered A Monster Calls (2016), which won nine Goya Awards, including Best Director.Bayona’s Hollywood career was secured with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), which Steven Spielberg chose him to direct.In 2023, he presented Society of the Snow, based on Pablo Vierci’s book about the 1972 tragedy in the Andes. The film won 12 Goya Awards and two Oscar® nominations, including for Best International Feature Film, and became one of the most-viewed non-English-language films on Netflix. In 2024, Bayona served on the jury of the Official Selection at Cannes.In parallel to his career as a film director, he has directed the television pilots Penny Dreadful (2014) and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), of which he was also the executive producer. He has also developed his producing side with titles such as Marrowbone (2017), She Walks in Darkness (2025), Crazy Old Lady (2025), and El fondo del lago, the latest film by Isaki Lacuesta, produced in 2026. In addition, he participated as a producer and co-creator of Beyond Society (2026), a documentary series premiered in the Official Selection at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
President of the Jury, 2026Juan Antonio Bayona (Barcelona, 1975) is among the Spanish filmmakers of greatest international renown. Trained at ESCAC, he made his feature film debut with The Orphanage (2007), presented at Cannes. The film received 14 Goya Award nominations and won seven, including Best New Director.He achieved international scope with The Impossible (2012), based on a true story of survival during the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in 2004. The film won five Goya Awards and earned Naomi Watts an Oscar® nomination for Best Actress.In 2013, he won Spain’s National Film Award. Three years later, he premiered A Monster Calls (2016), which won nine Goya Awards, including Best Director.Bayona’s Hollywood career was secured with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), which Steven Spielberg chose him to direct.In 2023, he presented Society of the Snow, based on Pablo Vierci’s book about the 1972 tragedy in the Andes. The film won 12 Goya Awards and two Oscar® nominations, including for Best International Feature Film, and became one of the most-viewed non-English-language films on Netflix. In 2024, Bayona served on the jury of the Official Selection at Cannes.In parallel to his career as a film director, he has directed the television pilots Penny Dreadful (2014) and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), of which he was also the executive producer. He has also developed his producing side with titles such as Marrowbone (2017), She Walks in Darkness (2025), Crazy Old Lady (2025), and El fondo del lago, the latest film by Isaki Lacuesta, produced in 2026. In addition, he participated as a producer and co-creator of Beyond Society (2026), a documentary series premiered in the Official Selection at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
