Jonathan Demme, Saverio Costanzo Get Venice Film Festival Jury Duty

Oscar-winning helmer Jonathan Demme and lauded Italian director Saverio Costanzo, whose Hungry Hearts was a major winner on the Lido last year, have been named presidents of the Horizons and Lion of the Future juries, respectively. As jury chairs, they join Alfonso Cuaron who was previously appointed head of the main competition panel at the Venice Film Festival.

Demme will be logging time in Europe in the next month or so as his Meryl Streep-starrer Ricki And The Flash world premieres as the opening night film of the Locarno fest on August 5. The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia helmer has himself had films in various sections of Venice including 1980’s Melvin And Howard, 2004’s The Manchurian Candidate, 2007 doc Man From Plains, 2008’s Rachel Getting Married, 2011’s I’m Caroline Parker: The Good, The Bad And The Beautiful, and Enzo Avitabile Music Life in 2012.

Costanzo had a hit with last year’s Hungry Hearts, his fourth feature, which took the Venice acting prizes for Alba Rohrwacher and Adam Driver. It was also nominated for seven David di Donatello awards. Costanzo’s other credits include Private, In Memory Of Me and The Solitude Of Prime Numbers which competed in Venice in 2010. He also directed the Italian adaptation of In Treatment, seasons 1 and 2, for SKY Cinema.

The international jury of the Horizons (Orizzonti) section will award prizes for Best Film, Best Director; Best Actor or Actress, Best Short Film and will hand out a Special Jury Prize. No ties will be allowed.

The international jury of the “Luigi di Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film – Lion of the Future gives a $100K cash prize to one debut feature from across the competitive sections. No ties allowed here either.

Venice opens September 2 with Baltasar Kormakur’s Everest. The main lineup for the event whcih runs through September 12 will be unveiled on July 29 in Rome.