US actor-director Sean Penn will head the Competition jury at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, festival organisers announced today in Paris. Penn won an Oscar for his role in Clint Eastwood's Mystic River, which was part of the Competition programme in Cannes in 2004. This year Penn wrote and directed the critically acclaimed drama Into the Wild. The 2008 Cannes Film Festival will run from May 14 to May 25 on the Côte d'Azur. Some twenty titles are normally in competition for the Palme d'Or. Last year's jury, presided over by UK director Stephen Frears, awarded the top prize to the Romanian drama 4 luni, 3 saptamini si 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days).