Global jury joins Venezia 82

The International Juries have been selected for Venezia 82, Orizzonti and for “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for Best Debut Film, of the 82^nd Venice International Film Festival (August 27 – September 6, 2025), directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by La Biennale di Venezia.

The decision was made by the Board of Directors of La Biennale, upon recommendation of the Artistic Director of the Festival, Alberto Barbera.

Chaired – as previously announced on April 28 – by American director Alexander Payne, the International Jury of the Venezia 82 Competition will also include the following members: French director and screenwriter Stéphane Brizé; Italian director and screenwriter Maura Delpero; Romanian director, writer and producer Cristian Mungiu; Iranian director and writer Mohammad Rasoulof; Brazilian actress, writer and screenwriter Fernanda Torres; Chinese actress Zhao Tao.

Alexander Payne American director, screenwriter and producer. He grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and studied history and Spanish literature at Stanford before earning a master’s degree in film directing at UCLA. His movies – all comedies – are said to be characterized by “elegant construction, biting humor, and fine tragi-comic performances.” They have been nominated for a total of 24 Oscars, including four times for Best Picture and three times for Best Director. He has won twice for Best Adapted Screenplay – forSideways (2004) and The Descendants (2011) – and his latest, The Holdovers (2023), won Best Supporting Actress just last year. A lifelong film buff and ardent supporter of film preservation, he serves of the boards of The Film Foundation and the Telluride FF. He is currently preparing a new film to be shot in rural Denmark, and his dream is to make a Western.

Stéphane Brizé, French director and screenwriter. To date, he has directed 11 feature films, including Not Here to Be Loved, Mademoiselle Chambon (César 2010 Best Adapted Film), A Few Hours of Spring, and The Measure of a Man. The latter was in competition at Cannes in 2015, where Vincent Lindon received the Best Actor Award and then the Cesar Award for Best Actor. This was followed by A Woman’s Life, an adaptation of Maupassant’s novel, in competition at Venice in 2016 before receiving the Louis Delluc Prize. Then came At War (2018), in competition at Cannes. Both Another World (2021) and Out of Season (2023) premiered in Venice competition. Several of these films examine the consequences for individuals of the financialization of the economy. He has just finished filming his new film, A Good Little Soldier, starring Vincent Lindon and Alba Rohrwacher in the lead roles.

Maura Delpero, Italian director and screenwriter. She studied literature in Bologna and Paris and dramaturgy in Buenos Aires. Her documentaries have won awards at the Torino Film Festival. Her first fiction film Maternal, in Competition at Locarno, won more than 30 awards in over 100 international festivals, and received the Kering Women in Motion Young Talent Award at the Cannes Film Festival. For her second film Vermiglio, she won the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize in Venice and many other awards including the Gold Hugo at the Chicago IFF. The film was selected to represent Italy at the 2025 Oscars, and was on the shortlist for Best International Film. It was nominated for Best Film and Best Director at the European Film Awards and for Best Film at the Gotham Awards and the Golden Globes. Maura is the first woman to win the David di Donatello for Best Director.

Cristian Mungiu, Romanian writer, director and producer. He studied Literature in Iasi and Film in Bucharest. After the fall of communism, he worked in the written press, radio and TV. His first feature, Occident, premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2002, and was a box-office hit in Romania. His following films were presented at Cannes: 4 month, 3 weeks and 2 days (2007, Palme d’Or winner), Beyond the Hills (2012, Best Screenplay and Best Actress awards at Cannes), Graduation (2016, Best Director award at Cannes), R.M.N. (2022). He founded the production company Mobra Films in 2003, the distribution company Voodoo Films in 2006 and the NGO Asociatia Cinemascop in 2010. The companies produced or released a great number of films. He founded the film festivals Les Films de Cannes a Bucarest and American Independent Film Festival. In 2023 he published Tania Ionascu, my grandmother. A Moldovan Biography. The book was translated into French and Italian.

Mohammad Rasoulof, Iranian director, writer, and producer, and one of the most prominent independent filmmakers in contemporary Iranian cinema. His films, known for their distinctive cinematic language and bold engagement with social and political issues in Iran, have received widespread international acclaim. He has received over 80 international awards, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin IFF in 2020 for There Is No Evil, the Un Certain Regard Award for Best Film at Cannes in 2017 for A Man of Integrity, and the Un Certain Regard Award for Best Director in 2011 for Goodbye. Nevertheless, none of his 8 feature films have been allowed public screening in Iran, and he has continuously faced severe restrictions and pressure from the Iranian regime. His most recent film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, premiered at Cannes in 2024, where it won the Special Jury Prize. The film was also selected as Germany’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards, and was nominated for the Oscar.

Fernanda Torres, Brazilian actress, writer and screenwriter. In 1986, she won the Palme d´Or for best actress for Love Me Forever and Ever by Arnaldo Jabor. She has worked with directors Bruno Barreto, Andrucha Waddington and Walter Salles, among others. On stage, she was Orlando in an adaptation of Virginia Woolf´s novel, and Nina in Anton Chekov’s The Seagull. She regularly performs House of Fortunate Buddhas based on João Ubaldo Ribeiro´s book. She has written the novels End and Glory and Its Litany of Horrors. She has written screenplays for film and TV, and she has also been a regular columnist of “Folha de São Paulo” newspaper. In 2024 I´m Still Here by Walter Salles won the Best Screenplay award in Venice, and then the Oscar for Best International Feature. For her performance in the film, Torres received an Oscar nomination and won the Golden Globe. In October 2025, she will participate in the filming of The Brokers, based on her script and directed by Andrucha Waddington.

Zhao Tao, Chinese actress. Graduated from Beijing Dance Academy, she started her acting career with Platform (2000) by Jia Zhang-Ke, presented at the Venice Film Festival. Her major collaborations with Jia Zhang-Ke include Unknown Pleasures (2002), The World (2004), Still Life (2006, Golden Lion in Venice), A Touch of Sin (2013), Mountains May Depart (2015), Ash is Purest White (2018) and Caught by the Tides (2024). Zhao won the David di Donatello Award for her role in Shun Li and the Poet (2012), directed by Andrea Segre and presented at Giornate degli Autori. She also worked with director Isaac Julien for Ten Thousand Waves (2010). In 2018, she won Best Actress Award at the Chicago IFF for her role in Ash is Purest White. In 2024 she received the Special Tribute Award at the Toronto IFF. Her major works as producer include Useless (2007) and Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (2020).

The Jury of Venezia 82 will award the following official prizes to the feature films in Competition, with no joint awards allowed: Golden Lion for Best Film, Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize, Silver Lion for Best Director, Coppa Volpi for Best Actress, Coppa Volpi for Best Actor, Award for Best Screenplay, Special Jury Prize, and “Marcello Mastroianni” Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress.