Michael Mann to chair the jury of the 69th Venice Film Festival

by Vittoria Scarpa

01/06/2012 - American director, screenwriter and producer Michael Mann will preside over the international Jury of the competition of the 69th Venice International Film Festival, the first one directed by Alberto Barbera, taking place from August 29 until September 8, 2012.

Born in Chicago in 1943, Mann is one of the most influential and representative figures in contemporary American film. After having written, produced and directed a few television series, he made his debut in film directing in 1981 with Thief, which was followed by the big success as an executive producer of the cult TV series Miami Vice (1984). His characteristic post-modern style comes out in all its complexity in Manhunter (1986), a film which marks the first appearance on our screens of the character of Hannibal Lecter, the cannibal psychologist.

His name is particularly associated with city thrillers such as Heat (1995), which saw Al Pacino and Robert De Niro starring together for the first time, Collateral (2004, out of competition at the 61st Venice Film Festival), with Tom Cruise, and political thriller Insider (1999), the adaptation for cinema of Miami Vice (2006) and noir biopic Public Enemies (2009), about the 30s bank robber John Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp. His films also include the epic The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and Ali, with Will Smith as the boxer Muhammed Ali.

As a producer, Mann's work includes Martin Scorsese's Aviator (2004), Hancock (2008) with Will Smith, Texas Killing Fields (2011), directed by his daughter Ami Canaan Mann (in competition at the 68th Venice Film Festival), and the HBO series Luck (2011) and Witness.

This is the first time that Michael Mann chairs an international Jury.

(Translated from Italian)