Catherine Deneuve
© AFP/File Pornchai KittiwongsakulROME (AFP) - "We are proud to have someone like Catherine Deneuve presiding over the jury at Venice. Her magical charisma and her experience as a lead actress in world class cinema will bring serenity and balance to the task of the judges," said festival director Marco Muller and Davide Croff, president of the Venice Biennale.
In 2005, the head of the jury was Italian production designer Dante Ferretti, who won an Oscar for "The Aviator", directed by Martin Scorsese.
The Biennale has been a showcase for new trends in the arts since 1895. This year its board is introducing a series of events to strengthen ties between the international show and the city.
These include a two-evening screening in the historical centre of Venice of films by three grand masters of Italian cinema -- Roberto Rossellini, Mario Soldati and Luchino Visconti -- to celebrate the centenary of the trio's birth.
"The Magic Flute", a film by British actor-director Kenneth Branagh based on Mozart's opera of the same name, will receive its world preview on September 7, in the Fenice theatre, one of the most famous in Europe.
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