Wim Wenders to preside over Venice Jury

Coen Brother’s “Burn After Reading” to be the opening film

Twenty-six years after winning the Golden Lion for The State of Things, Wim Wenders will be presiding over the jury of the 65th Venice Film Festival.

For the German director, being on the jury closes a large circle with Venice. “Discovered” by the festival back in 1972 with his debut feature The Goalkeeper’s Fear of the Penalty Kick, Wenders has returned a number of times to the Lido with his films, through to 2004, when Land of Plenty was selected in competition.

The 2008 edition of the festival (August 27-September 6) will open with Burn After Reading by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film features a stellar cast in George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton and Brad Pitt.

This year’s Career Lion will go to Ermanno Olmi. The statuette will be presented to Olmi on September 4, by celebrated singer-songwriter Adriano Celentano, whose directorial debut Yuppi Du screened at the festival in 1975.

Posted by NewsDesk on Jun 30 2008. Filed under Features & Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry