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VENICE 2021

Bong Joon-ho to chair Venice’s international jury

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- The South Korean director, who scooped four Oscars in 2020 for Parasite, will preside over the jury tasked with handing out the Golden Lion at the next edition of the Mostra (1-11 September 2021)

Bong Joon-ho to chair Venice’s international jury
Director Bong Joon-ho

“The first, good news item regarding the 78th Venice Film Festival is that Bong Joon-ho has enthusiastically agreed to preside over the jury.” So said Artistic Director Alberto Barbera this morning as he conveyed the news that the great South Korean director, who won four Oscars in 2020 and the Palme d’Or at Cannes for Parasite, has been chosen as the president of the international jury of the Competition, tasked with handing out the Golden Lion for Best Film and the other official prizes at the next edition of the Mostra (1-11 September 2021).

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In his acceptance statement, Bong Joon-ho declared: “The Venice International Film Festival carries with it a long and varied history, and I'm honoured to be woven into its beautiful cinematic tradition. As president of the jury – and, more importantly, as a perpetual cinephile – I'm ready to admire and applaud all the great films selected by the festival. I'm filled with genuine hope and excitement.”

“Today," added Barbera, "the great Korean director Bong Joon-ho is one of the most authentic and original voices in worldwide cinema. We are immensely grateful to him for having agreed to put his passion as an attentive, inquisitive and unprejudiced cinephile at the service of our festival. It is a pleasure and an honour to be able to share the joy of this moment with the countless admirers, throughout the world, of his extraordinary movies. The decision to entrust the jury to a Korean filmmaker, for the first time in the festival’s history, is also confirmation that the Venetian event embraces the cinema of the entire world, and that directors from every country know they can consider Venice their second home.”

Bong Joon-ho made his feature-length directorial debut in 2000 with the black comedy Barking Dogs Never Bite before going on to gain international acclaim with Memories of Murder in 2003, for which he won the Silver Shell for Best Director at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. His subsequent effort, The Host (2006), was presented at Cannes, in the Directors’ Fortnight, and was included among the ten best movies of the 2000s by Cahiers du Cinéma. Mother (2009), premiered at Cannes, in Un Certain Regard, scooped numerous awards from various critics’ societies. He made his first foray into international production with Snowpiercer (2013) and followed it up with Okja (2017), which was presented in competition at Cannes. His latest feature, Parasite – besides the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or and the gongs for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best International Feature Film and Best Picture at the 92nd edition of the Academy Awards – picked up a David di Donatello Award in Italy, a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice Award, and the BAFTA Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Foreign-language Film.

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(Translated from Italian)

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