AceShowbiz - Quentin Tarantino will head the jury of September's Venice Film Festival in Italy. The "Pulp Fiction" director will lead a selected panel of industry experts to choose the festival's honorees, including the coveted Golden Lion trophy, which is often seen as a key indicator of a movie's potential at other prizegiving ceremonies.

Tarantino, whose films have won him a string of honors including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and the Cannes Film Festival's revered Palme d'Or, has been hailed as "one of the major creative figures in contemporary cinema" by festival organizers. A spokesperson for the event says, "(Tarantino is) perhaps the only American hauteur to be adored worldwide like a rock star."

Last year's jury was helmed by "Brokeback Mountain" moviemaker Ang Lee.