Venice International Film Festival has confirmed its International Jury for Venezia 83.
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 23 April – by American director, actress, screenwriter and producer Maggie Gyllenhaal, the International Jury of the Venezia 83 Competition will also include the following members: the Tunisian director and screenwriter Kaouther Ben Hania; the English composer and artist Daniel Blumberg; the Italian professor Francesco Casetti; the French director and screenwriter Xavier Giannoli; the Afghan director and screenwriter Shahrbanoo Sadat; the Hong Kong director and producer Johnnie To.
More information on the jury members – provided by VIFF – is available below.
Kaouther Ben Hania, Tunisian director and screenwriter. Her work moves between fiction and documentary, often exploring power, injustice, and the fragile place of the individual within oppressive systems.
Daniel Blumberg, British composer and artist, based in London. His practice operates across songwriting, improvisation, drawing and sound.
Francesco Casetti, Italian and American professor. He is Sterling Professor of Humanities and Film and Media Studies at Yale, where he chaired both the Film and Media Studies Program and the Humanities Program, and where he is also affiliated to the School of Architecture.
Xavier Giannoli, French director and screenwriter. Born in Paris, he studied literature before directing several short films, including L’Interview, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1998.
Shahrbanoo Sadat, Afghan filmmaker. She was born in 1991 and she is based in Hamburg, Germany, where she has lived since the fall of Kabul in 2021. She is developing an ambitious five-part film cycle inspired by the unpublished autobiographical manuscript of her longtime friend and collaborator, Anwar Hashimi.
Johnnie To, Hong Kong director and producer. Johnnie To Kei-fung, born in 1955, is a renowned director and producer from Hong Kong. While deeply rooted in the local and greater Chinese film markets, his work has also garnered widespread international acclaim.
The Jury of Venezia 83 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, Special Jury Prize, Award for Best Screenplay, and “Marcello Mastroianni” Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress.
Venezia 83 will take place from 2-12 September 2026.
