Marco Müller, artistic director of the Festival, has also announced that director, screenwriter, and author Jeff Nichols will preside over the International Jury that will award the prizes to the films in Competition during the seventh edition of the Rome Film Festival.
Jeff Nichols, director, screenwriter and author of Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, and Mud will chair the jury – composed of seven other leading figures in the world of cinema and culture from different countries – which will award the Golden Marc’Aurelio for Best Film, the Best Director Award, the Special Jury Prize, the Best Actor Award, the Best Actress Award, the Emerging Actor or Actress Award, the Award for Best Technical Contribution, the Award for Best Screenplay.
Director and screenwriter, Jeff Nichols was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, and is now considered one of the most promising American authors of the new generation.
His film debut, Shotgun Stories, presented at the Berlin Festival in 2007, won the FIPRESCI jury prize at the 2007 Viennale and the Grand Jury Prize at the Austin Film Festival.
His second feature-length film, Take Shelter, was presented in the Dramatic Competition section of the Sundance Film Festival 2011 and in its international premiere in the Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes Festival 2011, where it won the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Award.
His latest film, Mud, made its debut last May in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. As of today, Nichols is the youngest director to have ever competed for Cannes Golden Palm
