MUMBAI: Actor, producer and director, Robert DeNiro will head the Jury of the 64th Festival de Cannes. The 2011 edition of the festival will take place from 11 to 22 May.

The organizers will also pay a tribute to the co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2011. DeNiro, co-founded the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002.

Accepting the invitation, DeNiro said, "The Cannes Film Festival is a rare opportunity for me as it is one of the oldest and one of the best in the world."

DeNiro rose to recognition with Martin Scorsese‘s Mean Streets (1973) and Coppola‘s The Godfather Part II for which he won the Academy Award for best supporting actor in 1974. In 1980, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Raging Bull (1980), directed by Martin Scorsese.

To his credit are films like Bernardo Bertoulucci‘s Novecento (1976), Elia Kazan‘s Last Tycoon (1976), Michael Cimino‘s The Deer Hunter (1978), Sergio Leone‘s Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Brian de Palma‘s The Untouchables (1987), Martin Scorsese‘s Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995), Terry Gilliam‘s Brazil (1985) and Michael Mann‘s Heat (1995) among others.

The actor also wore the director‘s cap in A Bronx Tale, The Good Shepherd, Analyze This, Meet the Parents and Little Fockers.