Quentin Tarantino will head the competition jury at this year's 67th Venice Film Festival.
Artistic director Marco Mueller described Tarantino as "one of the most startling directors in cinema today," and "perhaps the only American auteur to be adored worldwide like a rock star."
Rock star credentials aside, Tarantino is well-qualified for the gig having presented retrospectives at Venice in previous years, and headed the jury at 2004's Cannes Film Festival. He will take over the honours from last year's jury leader Ang Lee.
The competition line-up is expected to feature several contributions from high-profile European directors, with Sofia Coppola's Somewhere and Francois Ozon's Potiche both tipped for selection.
Also a solid bet is Miral , Julian Schnabel's first feature since The Diving Bell and the Butterfly , which stars Freida Pinto as a woman struggling to found an orphanage in 1940s Jerusalem.
This year's Venice Film Festival runs from September 1-11.
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