Veteran Italian director Mario Monicelli is tipped to head the jury of the Venice International Film Festival, according to reports in Milan newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.

Born in 1915, Monicelli was one of the founders of the post-war Commedia all'Italiana genre, and is still active as a filmmaker today. Persons Unknown (I Soliti Ignoti) with Vittorio Gassmann and The Great War (La Grande Guerra) are among his best-known works.

The Corriere also reported that the jury of the Venice 60 competition is expected to include Italian heartthrob actor Stefano Accorsi (The Last Kiss, A Voyage Called Love).

Venice declined to comment on the press reports.

Meanwhile, Venice organisers did announce on Monday that the festival will award a Golden Lion Achievement Award to actor Omar Sharif, who will be on the Lido for the premiere of his latest film, Monsieur Ibrahim Et Les Fleurs Du Coran, directed by François Dupeyron.

The Biennale will also give a Golden Lion Achievement Award to ever-active legendary Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, whose upcoming pictures include Lecter Variation: The Story of Young Hannibal Lecter and an Alexander The Great film with Leonardo Di Caprio.