Michael Mann to head Venice jury

Mann's films include Last Of The Mohicans, Heat and Public Enemies

US film director Michael Mann will lead the jury at this year's Venice Film Festival, organisers have announced.

Best known for crime dramas Heat and The Insider, the 69-year-old will help decide the winner of the prestigious Golden Lion prize.

Last year, the award went to Alexander Sokurov's adaptation of Faust. Previous winners include Ang Lee, Sofia Coppola and Wim Wenders.

A statement from the festival called Mann "a total film maker".

It added he was "one of the most influential and representative figures in contemporary American cinema".

Mann, who studied film in London as a graduate, began his career in commercials and wrote the first four episodes of Starsky and Hutch.

In the 1980s, he was the executive producer of the flashy, sun-blasted cop show Miami Vice - a series which he recreated for the big screen in 2006.

His movie career has focused on gritty-but-stylish crime dramas, and the director has become noted for his pin-sharp portrayals of urban America.

Mann has also delivered career highlights for some of Hollywood's biggest stars - from Will Smith in Ali to Tom Cruise in Collateral.

But the pinnacle of his cinema work is undoubtedly the understated-but-threatening coffee shop stand-off between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Heat - the actors' first ever scene together.

'Sober'

Mann will arrive in Venice as the city celebrates its 69th film festival.

Incoming director Alberto Barbera has promised a "more sober, less glitzy" event after several years dominated by Hollywood royalty - George Clooney often jets in to the festival from his villa on Lake Como.

The festival will launch a small film market this year to help it compete with Cannes and Berlin, where the buying and selling of titles is a key ingredient to their success.

A line-up for the festival has yet to be announced.

The annual event will run from 29 August to 8 September this year.