Actress Julianne Moore has been selected as president of the jury in the main competition program of the Venice International Film Festival this fall, festival director Alberto Barbera announced, as quoted by the Associated Press.
This year’s edition starts on August 31 and runs until September 10. The Venice Biennale’s board of directors oversees the festival’s operations and selects the jury at director Barbera’s recommendation.
The Oscar winner will head the jury, which includes French director Audrey Diwan, whose film The Event won the Golden Lion at last year’s festival, Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro and Iranian actress Leila Khatami, winner of “Silver Bear” from the Berlinale. The jury includes the Italian director Leonardo di Constanzo, the Argentine Mariano Kon and the Spanish screenwriter and director Rodrigo Sorogoyen.
They will all arrive at the Lido at the end of next month to determine the festival’s main awards, including the Golden Lion for Best Film and the Silver Lion for Best Director, which often set the tone for the upcoming awards season.
Last year Jane Campion was awarded the Silver Lion for her film The Power of the Dog by the jury chaired by Korean director Bong Joon-ho and starring Chloe Zhao. Campion later won an Academy Award for the film. It was one of seven occasions in the past decade when a director of a film premiering in Venice also won an Oscar for best director in the same season.
The films in the competition program will be announced later this month.