La La Land director Damien Chazelle will be president of the Competition jury for the 80th Venice Film Festival (August 30-September 9).
Saint Omer director Alice Diop will chair the Luigi De Laurentiis debut film award jury; with A Chiara filmmaker Jonas Carpignano chairing the Horizons jury.
Chazelle has opened the festival on two previous occasions, with La La Land in 2016 and with First Man in 2018, both in Competition. Emma Stone won the Volpi Cup for best actress for La La Land, and went on to take the best actress Oscar for the film the following year.
“For ten 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,” said Chazelle.
Diop’s debut fiction feature Saint Omer debuted in Competition on the Lido last year, winning the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize and the Luigi De Laurentiis award. It became France’s selection for the international feature Oscar, and won the Cesar for best debut film.
“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,” said Diop.
Italian director Carpignano’s debut feature Mediterranea launched in Critics’ Week at Cannes 2015, with the festival also launching his subsequent features A Ciambra in 2017 and A Chiara in 2021. “Year after year the rich and bold selection of Orizzonti offers us a deep immersion in the world of cinema,” said the filmmaker.
The Competition jury awards the Golden Lion for best film and Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, plus the Silver Lion for best director, Coppa Volpis for best actress and actor, a Special Jury Prize, best screenplay award and Marcello Mastroianni award for best new young actor or actress.
The Luigi De Laurentiis award comes with a cash prize of $100,000, divided equally between the director and producer; while the Horizons jury awards best film, director, actress, actor, screenplay and short film prizes plus a special jury prize.
The full juries will be announced in the coming weeks.
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