Sawt Falasteen - Maggie Gyllenhaal to lead Venice Film Festival jury

Gyllenhaal and the other jurors will select the winner of the prestigious Golden Lion award for Best Film at the festival, which takes place in September.

Gyllenhaal, 48, made her director's debut with her adaptation of Elena Ferrante's "The Lost Daughter", for which she won the festival's Best Screenplay award in 2021.

Gyllenhaal said in a statement she was "thrilled to accept the invitation to lead this year’s Venice Film Festival jury".

"Venice has always supported truthful, singular voices and I am honored to play a part in continuing that brave and necessary tradition," she said.

Festival director Alberto Barbera praised Gyllenhaal as "an actress capable of giving voice to challenging and multifaceted characters" and "an original filmmaker".

"Having her lead our jury means we can count on an authoritative and independent voice," he said.

The Venice Film Festival is the oldest of its kind in the world.

It takes place every year and forms part of the Venice Biennale, a famed series of arts festivals.

The Biennale recently drew fire for allowing Russia to particiate in this year's art event, the first time the country will be included since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Russia's participation in the Biennale is "morally wrong" in a statement released Tuesday, and reiterated the EU's intention to cut its funding of the festival.

"While Russia bombs museums, destroys churches and seeks to erase Ukrainian culture, it should not be allowed to exhibit its own," she said.

G.AbuHamad--SF-PST