The Venice Film Festival has set its juries for the 74th event which runs August 30-September 9 on the Lido. Annette Bening was previously announced as President of the main Venezia 74 competition jury — and as the first female to hold the post since 2006. The panel awards the major prizes including the Golden and Silver Lions and the acting Volpi Cups, among others.
Venice kicks off with Alexander Payne’s Downsizing as the opening film in competition. Other titles confirmed include Ritesh Batra’s Our Souls At Night, a Netflix pic that’s running out of competition. Stars Jane Fonda and Robert Redford are receiving Lifetime Achievement Golden Lions at the September 1 screening. Venice’s full official lineup will be unveiled on July 27.
Overseeing the jury for the competitive Horizons section, which opens with Susanna Nicchiarelli’s Nico 1988 — and has been home to such discoveries as 2016 Oscar nominee A War — is Italian director Gianni Amelio. His panel will include Iranian filmmaker Rakhshan Banietemad; U.S. director Ami Canaan Mann; Irish-Scottish filmmaker Mark Cousins; Argentine screenwriter and architect Andrés Duprat; Belgian filmmaker Fien Troch; and French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski.
Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, the Iranian director of numerous acclaimed fiction and documentary films, won the award for best screenplay at the 71st International Venice Film Festival for her film “Tales”.