Italian critic Fabio Ferzetti isto replace Giorgio Gosetti as head of Venice'sDirectors' Fortnight - known as Venice Days.

Gosetti, who had been in charge ofthe independent Venice sidebarsince its creation in 2004, will now concentrate on his role as generaldirector of the new Rome Film Festival, officially called "Cinema Festa Internazionale di Roma." The first edition of thefestival, which some see as a potentially serious rival to the Venice FilmFestival, will take place from October 13-21, 2006.

Ferzetti, a long-time film criticfor national daily Il Messaggero,has been a member of ScreenInternational's jury at the Cannesand Berlin Film Festivals.