Gemma Arterton and Laurie Anderson join Venice Film Festival jury

Gemma Arterton and Laurie Anderson are set to help director Sam Mendes pick the winners of the 2016 Venice Film Festival in Italy.
The former Bond Girl and the musician, composer and director will judge the films submitted in the main competition alongside Skyfall moviemaker Sam, who was previously announced as the President of the jury in April (16).
The team will help decide which film wins the coveted Golden and Silver Lion awards plus the Grand Jury Prize, Special Jury Prize and acting trophies alongside other jury members, which include The Look of Silence documentary maker Joshua Oppenheimer, French-Italian actress Chiara Mastroianni, German star Nina Hoss, and Chinese director, singer and actress Zhao Wei.
The jury is completed by Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas, who became the first-ever Latin American to win the Golden Lion with his movie From Afar last year (15).
Laurie, who was married to late musician Lou Reed, competed in the 2015 Venice festival as director of her autobiographical film Heart of a Dog.
Sam said he was “honoured” to be president of the jury back in April (16), adding, “I’ve always had a strong personal connection with Venice; as a student I worked for three months at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection way back in 1984, and my happiest film festival memory is launching Road To Perdition at Venice in 2002. I am thoroughly delighted to be coming back to the Lido this year and welcoming a wealth of international filmmaking talent.”
Upcoming musical La La Land, which stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, is set to open the festival and make its debut on 31 August (16). It was originally due for release in July (16) but is now set to hit selected U.S. cinemas in December (16).
The festival director called the movie a “surprising tribute to the golden age of American musicals” which doesn’t just reinvent the genre, “it gives it a brand new start.”
The rest of the festival’s lineup is announced on Thursday (28Jul16). The event runs from 31 August to 10 September (16).