Michael Mann will chair Venice's jury

Marina Abramovic, Laetitia Casta, Peter Ho-Sun Chan, Ari Folman, Matteo Garrone, Ursula Meier, Samantha Morton, Pablo Trapero to form the Venezia 69 International Jury

chaired by Michael Mann

The selection has been made for the members of the International Jury for the Competition at the 69th Venice International Film Festival (29 August – 8 September 2012), with American director Michael Mann as president.

The decision was made by the Board of Directors of the Venice Biennale chaired by Paolo Baratta, upon the recommendation of the Director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera.

The personalities selected to compose the Jury are:
•    Serbian artist and performer Marina Abramovic, who was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Artist at the 1997 Venice Biennale
•    French actress and model Laetitia Casta, who worked for acclaimed directors such as Raoul Ruiz (Les âmes fortes, 2001), Patrice Leconte (Rue des plaisirs, 2002) and Tsai Ming-Liang (Visage, 2009). Casta received her first nomination at the César Awards for the interpretation of Brigitte Bardot in the movie Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)
•    Hong Kong producer and director Peter Ho-Sun Chan, a leading figure in the Asian film industry, who has been able to merge art and entertainment and has originally reinterpreted the traditional wuxia genre
•    Israeli director and screenwriter Ari Folman, author of Waltz with Bashir (2008) that won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
•    Italian director Matteo Garrone, two-times winner of the Gran Prix at the Cannes Film Festival for Gomorra (2008) and Reality (2012)
•    French/Swiss film-maker Ursula Meier, who received a Silver Bear Special Award at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival for her movie Sister
•    British actress Samantha Morton, who received two Academy Award nominations, one for Best Supporting Actress in Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown (2000), and one for Best Actress in Jim Sheridan’s In America (2004)
•    Argentinian director and producer Pablo Trapero, who already participated at the Venice Film Festival, the first time in 1999 with his debut film Crane World (Mundo Grua), and then in 2004 with Rolling Family (Familia Rodante, 2004)

On the closing night of the Venice International Film Festival (September 8, 2012), the Venezia 69 International Jury will award the official prizes to the feature-length films in competition: the Golden Lion for Best Film, the Silver Lion for Best Director, the Special Jury Prize, the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor, the Coppa Volpi for Best Actress, the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress, the Award for Best Technical Contribution and the Award for Best Screenplay.