Venice: Haifaa Al Mansour president of the jury for best film debut
- Saudi Arabia’s first female director presented her film Wadjda at last year’s Venice Film Festival to great critical acclaim
Haifaa Al Mansour, Saudi Arabia’s first female director and writer of Wadjda, a film presented during the 2012 Venice Film Festival (Horizons section) to great critical acclaim, is to be the jury president for this year’s ''Luigi De Laurentiis'' award for debut films, during the 70th edition of the International Venice Film Festival.
Haifaa Al Mansour is considered one of the biggest film industry figures in her country. The success of her shorts, as well as her innovative documentary Women Without Shadow (2005), has influenced a new generation of Saudi directors. In Saudi Arabia, her work is praised as much as it is despised for having penetrated the wall of silence surrounding the segregated lives of Saudi women.
The 70th edition of the Venice Film Festival will take place 28 August through 7 September 2013, with model and actress Eva Riccobono hosting the opening and closing evening ceremonies.
(Translated from Italian)
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