French star Catherine Deneuve, named best actress at 1998's Venice International Film Festival, will head the main competition jury at the 63rd edition of the event, organizers said on Wednesday.

The festival also announced it will host the world premiere of Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Mozart's The Magic Flute along with a series of screenings celebrating the centennial of the birth of iconic Italian directors Roberto Rossellini, Lucino Visconti and Mario Soldati.

Deneuve has a long association with the Venice fest, which this year runs August 30 through September 9. She made a name for herself at the 1967 edition as the star of Luis Bunuel's Golden Lion winner Belle de jour. In 1998, she won the Coppa Volpi award for her role as Marianne Malivert in Nicole Garcia's Place Vendome.

The makeup of the rest of the jury was not announced.

"We are proud that a personality like Catherine Deneuve will preside over the Venice jury," Biennale president Davide Croff and Venice artistic director Marco Mueller said. "Her magical charisma and her knowledge of cinema will give serenity and balance to the jury."

Screenings of classic films will include Rossellini's Rome, Open City and 1959 Golden Lion winner Il Generale della Rovere, Visconti's Ossessione and Soldati's La Provinciale.

Branagh's adaptation of Flute will screen September 7 at the La Fenice Opera House.