MUMBAI: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who won the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes for his film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Loves has been selected to head the jury of the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti (Horizons) sidebar.
 
The section focuses on cutting edge international cinema. Incidentally, Weerasethakul had competed in the festival’s main section in 2006 with his film Syndromes and a Century.
 
Besides, Italian director Carlo Mazzacurati, whose La Passione competed in Venice last year, has been named president of the jury that will judge the Luigi De Laurentiis award for a debut film while Roberta Torre will head the jury for the Italian cinema showcase, the Controcampo Italiano selection. As announced earlier, Darren Aronofsky will serve as the president of the International Jury that award the Golden Lion and other official prizes.
 
The 68th Venice International Film Festival runs from 31 August to 10 September.