Greta Gerwig, fresh from her box office triumph Barbie, is to be president of the jury for the 2024 edition of the Cannes film festival.

In a lengthy statement announcing Gerwig’s appointment to the role, the festival said: “Gerwig manages to combine what was previously judged to be incompatible: delivering arthouse blockbusters, narrowing the gap between art and industry, exploring contemporary feminist issues with deft as well as depth, and declaring her demanding artistic ambition from within an economic model that she embraces in order to put to better use.”

Cannes festival president Iris Knobloch added that Gerwig was the “obvious choice”, while the festival’s general delegate Thierry Frémaux said she was “the representative of an era that is breaking down barriers and mixing genres, and thereby elevating the values of intelligence and humanism”.

Gerwig is the first female American film-maker to preside over the jury, which is responsible for handing out the official festival awards including the Palme d’Or and Caméra d’Or. At 40, however, she is far from the youngest jury president: Sophia Loren was 31 when she was in charge in 1966.

In the same statement Gerwig said: “Cannes has always been the pinnacle of what the universal language of movies can be … I am stunned and thrilled and humbled to be serving as the president of the Cannes film festival jury. I cannot wait to see what journeys are in store for all of us!”

Gerwig’s first directing credit was in 2008 in the “mumblecore” drama Nights and Weekends which she co-directed and co-starred in with Joe Swanberg; she went on to receive Oscar nominations for best director and best original script for her 2017 film Lady Bird, and a best adapted screenplay nomination in 2020 for Little Women. Barbie, which she directed and co-wrote, has so far taken $1.4bn worldwide (making it the highest grossing film directed by a woman) and has nine Golden Globes nominations.