Venice introduces a Grand Jury Prize and gets rid of the Osella

by Vittoria Scarpa

04/02/2013 - Change is in the air ahead of the seventieth International Venice Film Festival (running from 28 August through 7 September 2013). The Biennale board of directors presided over by Paolo Baratta, with indications from exhibition director Alberto Barbera, has approved a new rulebook for 2013, which includes a few notable updates.

First of all, a new award in the competition section: a Grand Jury Prize which will take the place previously occupied by the Osella, which recognised best technical contribution. Two more prizes will also be introduced in the Horizons section: Horizon Award for Best Director and Special Horizons Award for Innovative Content.

In other news, the number of jurors overseeing the selection of the Golden Lion has been fixed to 9 (previous requirements were between 7 and 9). Meanwhile, the Horizons jury and the “Luigi De Laurentiis” jury for best film debut will now be set to 7(instead of being between 5 and 7). The introduction of a Venice Classics section, dedicated to restorations and cinema-based documentaries, which took its first steps during last year’s edition, has been confirmed and formalised.  

(Translated from Italian)