Bertolucci to head Venice Film Festival jury

MILAN (AP) — The Venice Film Festival has announced that Oscar-winning director Bernardo Bertolucci will chair the jury for the 70th Venice Film Festival.

Bertolucci, 73, headed the jury previously in 1983, when the Golden Lion went to Jean-Luc Godard's "First Name: Carmen," and he has premiered numerous films at the festival, starting with "The Grim Reaper" in 1962 and more recently "The Dreamers," in 2003.

Bertolucci's 1987 film "The Last Emperor" won nine Oscars. The festival says it was the first and only Italian film to win the Academy Award for best director.

Bertolucci said in a statement Thursday that the festival will give him the opportunity to discover "the most mysterious niches of filmmaking in the most mysterious countries of the world."

The festival will be held Aug. 28-Sept. 7.