Shekhar Kapur to head Venice Film Festival jury for debut film award ‘The lion of the Future’

	SHEKHAR KAPUR

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, has announced the International Jury of the Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film along with the 100,000 USD offered by Aurelio and Luigi De Laurentiis’ Filmauro. The award will be given away at the 69th Venice International Film Festival that starts on 29 August 2012. The jury will be headed by well-known Indian film director and producer Shekhar Kapur.

The international Jury of the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award will select the winner among all the debut feature-length films in the various competitive sections of the Venice Film Festival (Official Selection and Independent Parallel Sections). The award will be divided equally between the director and the producer.

Other celebrated names in the jury include French-Greek film critic and historian Michel Demopoulos, Director of the Salonicco Film Festival for 14 years (1991-2005), Italian actress Isabella Ferrari, who was awarded the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival in 1995, in the Ettore Scola film Romanzo di un giovane povero, American film writer and director Matt Reeves, one of the innovators in the world of American TV series, co-creator of the popular U.S. television series FELICITY, director of CLOVERFIELD (2007) and LET ME IN (2010), and French DJ and record producer Bob Sinclair, a key figure in the world of house and techno music, Star of Clubs around the globe.

(Rajesh Kumar Singh is Editorial Consultant for Festivals and Markets for BollywoodTrade.com. He is a filmmaker, critic and market analyst)