Argentinean filmmakers Diego Lerman and Lisandro Alonso have been selected as jury members for the 71st edition of the Venice Film Festival, the oldest film festival in the world. Lerman has been selected as president of the jury for the independent section Giornate degli Autori, also known as Venice Days, while Alonso will be participating in the jury to select the Best First Film of the Festival.
Both Lerman and Alonso premiered their fourth and fifth films at the last edition of the Cannes Film Festival: Refugiado and Jauja respectively. 
Born in 1976, Lerman has previously directed the films Tan de repente / Suddenly (2002), Meanwhile / Mientras tanto (2006) and The Invisible Eye / La mirada invisible (2010), while Alonso (1975) has directed the films La libertad (2001), Los Muertos (2004), Fantasma (2006), and Liverpool (2008).
The 71st edition of the Italian film festival has next to none Latin American representation, only the Argentinean-Uruguayan film El Cinco / El 5 de Talleres by Adrián Biniez will be competing in the independent Venice Days section, and the omnibus film Words with Gods produced by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Arriaga, will have its world premiere as a special screening.
