Cannes Power Duo Gilles Jacob and Thierry Fremaux Extend Their Contracts Through 2014

Festival de Cannes president Gilles Jacob and artistic director Thierry Fremaux will remain in their posts through 2014, the festival's board of directors voted on Tuesday. Fremaux, who's been serving as Cannes' festival director since 2008, will see be granted more executive power over the festival's budget, staffing and development.

"I will have total freedom to act," Fremaux told AFP. "It is the start of a new governance at the head of Cannes to guarantee the festival's future."

Jacobs added, "We will continue to combine my experience with [Fremaux's] youth and dynamism. What people see is the pair of us standing on the festival steps in tuxedos, welcoming the stars -- but the truth is we are the workers shovelling coal below deck while everyone parties up above."

The 2012 Festival de Cannes runs May 16-27. Go here to read Indiewire's interview with Fremaux out of this year's festival.