The Biennale has announced Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan and Margherita Di Paola will be the new US programmer and correspondent, respectively,for the 65th Venice Film Festival.

Both D'Agnolo Vallan and Di Paola are charged with assisting Venice Film Festival artistic director Marco Mueller in the selection and searching process of American films for the next edition of the festival (August 27-Sept 6).

The Turin-born and New York-based D'Agnolo Vallan has written extensively on film for Italian dailies and periodicals as well as Film Comment and Cahiers du cinema, while she has written books on John Carpenter, Walter Hill, Robert Aldrich, Clint Eastwood and William Friedkin.

She served as co-director of the Turin Film Festival (2003-2006) and worked previously as correspondent to the Venice Film Festival (1998-2002) and has curated American film programs for several Italian festivals.

Di Paola lives in Los Angeles where she is active in the production of independent films and documentaries both in the US and her native Italy.