Damien Chazelle will preside over the competition jury of the upcoming Venice Film Festival.
The U.S. director is a Venice regular, having opened the Lido event on two occasions, in 2016 with “La La Land” and in 2018 with “First Man.”
Damien Chazelle, welcoming Venice’s proposal, stated: “For 10 days each year this city of the arts, of Tintoretto and Titian and Veronese, becomes a city of cinema, and I am humbled and delighted to be invited to lead this year’s jury. I can’t wait to discover a new crop of great films at the 80th Venice Film Festival.”
Venice also also announced that French director Alice Diop will head the jury panel of the fest’s Luigi De Laurentiis Award for best debut film, while Italy’s Jonas Carpignano will be president of the jury of the Horizons section for more cutting-edge works.
Diop with “Saint Omer,” which was her first feature, won both the Venice Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize and the Lion of the Future at Venice last year.
“What a great honour, what a great joy, to have been chosen to preside over the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film, at a festival that welcomed me and offered me so much last year,” said Diop. “I am happy to pass on the baton this year and to work to see a new voice emerge in the cinematic landscape that the Venice Festival has always had at sought to renew.”
Carpignano, who is known for “Mediterranea,” “A Ciambra,” and “A Chiara,” all of which launched from Cannes, said: “Year after year the rich and bold selection of Horizons offers us a deep immersion in the world of cinema. I can’t wait to live the emotions and to experience the diverse realities we will come to know in the theatres on the Lido. To have the opportunity to see some of the finest films of the year in one of the most beautiful places in the world is something truly special.”
The 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival will run Aug. 30-Sept. 9
