Venice Film Festival: Jonathan Demme Named President of Horizons Jury

U.S. director Jonathan Demme will serve as president of the Horizons jury at the Venice International Film Festival this year, organizers said on Wednesday.

The Academy Award winning director will debut his new film, Ricki and the Flash, starring Meryl Streep, at Locarno Film Festival in August. It will open that festival.

Demme is a frequent Venice director, having brought such films to the Lido as Melvin and Howard, The Manchurian Candidate, Man from Plains, Rachel Getting Married, I’m Caroline Parker: The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful and Enzo Avitabile Music Life.

The Horizons jury, composed of five members, will award prizes for best film, best director, a jury prize, best actor or actress and best short film. The Horizons section is dedicated to world cinema.

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As previously announced, Alfonso Cuaron will serve as president of the main jury for the 72 Venice competition films.

Meanwhile, Italian director Saverio Costanzo will head the jury for the Luigi di Laurentiis Venice Award for a Debut Film — Lion of the Future, an award that comes with a cash prize of $100,000 for the film’s director and producer. Costanzo had great success in Venice last year with his film Hungry Hearts, which netted best acting awards for its leads Adam Driver and Alba Rohrwacher.

The 72nd Venice International Film Festival takes place Sept. 2-12.