President Cannes Film Festival
15 September 2026, at La Grande Cascade, Paris
Iris Knobloch, quiet audacity
Some careers look like straight lines. Iris Knobloch’s never did.
Born in Munich, she first set her sights on law — a doctorate from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, then a Master of Laws at New York University. As an attorney at Norr, Stiefenhofer & Lutz and later O’Melveny & Myers, she spent her early professional years between Munich, Los Angeles and New York. Nothing, at first glance, pointed her toward the glittering world of cinema. And yet.
In 1996, she joined Time Warner, taking charge of the group’s international relations and strategic policy for Europe, before rising through the ranks at WarnerMedia. Twenty‑five years later, she was running the French subsidiary, with a standout achievement still remembered today: the French distribution of “The Artist”, winner of five Oscars. She then became President of WarnerMedia for five European countries.
In 2021, she surprised many by leaving the American giant to co‑found I2PO, an investment company created with the Pinault family and banker Matthieu Pigasse. The following year, its merger with Deezer opened a new chapter: Iris Knobloch became Chair and CEO, while also joining the boards of some of the world’s most prominent companies, from Lazard to AccorHotels and LVMH.
And then came Cannes. In 2022, Iris Knobloch took the helm of the most prestigious film festival in the world, a role demanding as much diplomacy as strategic vision, balancing international representation with the stewardship of the institution’s governance. Unanimously re‑elected in 2025 for a second term running until 2028, she champions a conviction she sums up simply: to make this global event “a major gathering for safeguarding the cultural life of a world that feels, more than ever, its urgent necessity”.
From the rigour of business law to the highest international boards, and now the presidency of the world’s foremost film festival, Iris Knobloch has built a career in which every turn, sometimes unexpected, became a springboard.
© Photo Olivier Vigerie