Chinese actress Vicki Zhao Wei has been invited to be one of the judges at the film festival.
Other announced jurors included American director Laurie Anderson, British actress Gemma Arterton, American director Joshua Oppenheimer, Italian screen writer Giancarlo De Cataldo, German actress Nina Hoss, French actress Chiara Mastroianni and Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas. Sam Mendes will serve as jury president. They will be tasked with choosing the Golden Lion for best film and Silver Lion for best director, among other awards.
Zhao Wei is one of Asia’s most coveted actresses, director and singer. She burst into international limelight with Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer (2001), He Ping’s Warriors of Heaven and Heart (2004), John Woo’s Red Clift (2009) and Johnnie To’s Three (2016). She has also worked with filmmakers like Ann Hui, Zhang Yuan, Doze Niu and Wu’ersan. Her performance in Peter Chan’s Dearest (2014)- shown out of competition at 71st Venice Film Festival – won Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2015. In 2013, Zhao released her directorial debut So Young was a critical hit and commercial success. It set the record of the highest grossing film by a female director in China. She recently finished primary shooting for her second directorial feature.
Zhao has become the fifth Chinese actress to serve as Venice juror after Maggie Cheung, Gong Li, Hsu Feng, and Joan Chen. She is also the only Asian face of this year’s Venice film festival.
Venice has also announced the jury members of its Horizons section, which includes American film critic and historian Jim Hoberman, Egyptian actress Nelly Karim, Italian actress Valentina Lodovini, South Korean actress and director Moon So-ri, Spanish critic Jose Maria Prado and Indian director Chaitanya Tamhane. The section is headed by French director Robert Guediguian and is for more cutting-edge works.
The 73rd Venice International Film Festival will open on 31 Aug 2016.