The International Juries of the 82nd Venice Film Festival

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; and 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 - for Sideways (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.

Chaired by French director and screenwriter Julia Ducournau, the international jury of Orizzonti will also include: Italian director and videoartist Yuri Ancarani; Argentine film critic Fernando Enrique Juan Lima; Australian director Shannon Murphy; American artist and filmmaker RaMell Ross.

Julia Ducournau, French director and screenwriter. She first gained recognition with her short film Junior, which won the Audience Award at the Cannes Critics' Week in 2011. Her debut feature Raw (also known as Grave) premiered in Competition at the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2016 and won the FIPRESCI Prize. The film screened at major international festivals including Sundance and Toronto, and received multiple awards. In 2021, Ducournau’s second feature Titane premiered in Competition at Cannes and was awarded the Palme d’Or. It received critical acclaim, featured at key festivals, and earned several nominations, including BAFTA and César Awards. Both films were distributed worldwide. Her third feature, Alpha, recently premiered in Competition at Cannes.

Yuri Ancarani, Italian director and video artist. He made his debut with the short film The Chief (2010), presented in Venice, followed by Da Vinci (2012), included in the Palazzo Enciclopedico, international pavilion of the Biennale Arte curated by Massimiliano Gioni. His first feature film, The Challenge (2016), received the Ciné+ Cineasti del presente Special Jury Prize in Locarno. In 2017, the “New York Times” included Ancarani in the list of rising directors to watch. In 2021, he made Atlantide, presented in Venice in the Orizzonti section and nominated as Best Documentary at the David di Donatello Awards. He has been invited to major international film festivals, including Toronto, Hot Docs, IDFA, SXSW, Cinema du Reel, Full Frame, True/False, Taipei, Rotterdam, Viennale and New Directors/New Films at MoMA. Numerous solo exhibitions have been dedicated to his work, including: Hammer Museum in Los Angeles (2014), Kunsthalle Basel (2018), Castello di Rivoli (2019), Kunstverein Hannover (2022), MAMbo in Bologna (2023) and PAC in Milan (2023), where he premiered his most recent documentary, Il Popolo delle Donne (2023), also selected at Giornate degli Autori. His works are part of public and private collections worldwide.

Fernando Enrique Juan Lima, film critic from Argentina. He is a lawyer and Doctor of Laws who serves as an Administrative Litigation Judge. He was the vice president of the National Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts of the Argentine Republic (INCAA) from 2017 to 2018 and the president of the Mar del Plata IFF from 2020 to 2024. He is a film critic who works in print media (“El Amante/Cine”, “Otros Cines”, “Diario BAE”, “Diario Crónica”, and “Escribiendo Cine”), TV (Cinema Mon Amour), and radio (La Autopista del Sur). He has served on juries at festivals in Torino, Beijing, Shanghai, Chicago, Montevideo, Mar del Plata, San Sebastián, Tallinn Black Nights, and Lima. He is among the Argentinean journalists who vote for the Golden Globes and is a member of the Argentinean Film Academy. He is the president of the Association of Friends of the Buenos Aires Film Museum.

Shannon Murphy, theatre, TV and film director from Australia. She recently directed and executive produced Liz Meriwether’s Dying for Sex, starring Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate for FX. Just before that, she directed and EP'd Polly Stenham's Dope Girls for Bad Wolf and the BBC. Her first feature film Babyteeth, which stars Essie Davis, Ben Mendelsohn, and Eliza Scanlan, premiered in competition in Venice, where Toby Wallace was awarded the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor. In 2021 she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Director for Babyteeth, and that same year won Kering's Women in Motion prize in Cannes. Babyteeth was nominated for Best International Film at the BIFAS, and won 9 AACTA Awards. Shannon directed 2 episodes of Killing Eve for BBC America/Sid Gentle and a block of the comedy Dave for Temple Hill/FX.

RaMell Ross, American artist, filmmaker, writer, and liberated documentarian. His documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening won a Special Jury Award for Creative Vision at the Sundance FF and a Peabody Award. It was nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy Award. His film Nickel Boys was named best film of 2024 by “The Atlantic”, “The New York Times”, “The New Yorker” and IndieWire and was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Feature Film at the Academy Awards. He was named 2024's best director by both the New York and London film critic circles. His first monograph, Spell, Time, Practice, American, Body, published by MACK, was shortlisted for the Aperture Book Prize and Kraszna-Krausz Photography Book Award, as well as long listed for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize. His work is in various permanent collections such as Museum of Modern Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. He is an associate professor of art in Brown University's Visual Art department.

The Orizzonti Jury will award the following prizes, with no joint awards allowed: Orizzonti Award for Best Film, Orizzonti Award for Best Director, Special Orizzonti Jury Prize, Orizzonti Award for Best Actress, Orizzonti Award for Best Actor, Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay, Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film.

Chaired by Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells, the international jury of the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film will also include French-Tunisian director and producer Erige Sehiri and Italian director and screenwriter Silvio Soldini.

Charlotte Wells, a Scottish filmmaker based in New York City. Her debut feature film, Aftersun, starring Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio premiered in Critics’ Week at Cannes and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Wells received the BAFTA, BIFA, DGA, Gotham, Independent Spirit, and NBR Awards for Best First Feature. Previously, she wrote and directed three short films while completing the MBA/MFA dual-degree program at NYU.

Erige Sehiri, French-Tunisian director, producer, and former journalist. In 2018 she directed the acclaimed documentary Railway Men. In 2022, she wrote, directed, and produced her first feature, Under the Fig Trees. The film participated in the 2021 Final Cut in Venice, a project of the Venice Production Bridge. It premiered at Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and was selected to represent Tunisia at the 2023 Academy Awards. Sehiri is an advocate for freedom of expression and media literacy. She is the co-founder of the media platform INKYFADA and the Tunisian NGO Al KHATT. She is a founding member of the Rawiyat–Sisters in Film collective, which supports women filmmakers across the Arab world and diaspora. Promised Sky, her second feature film, premiered at Cannes' Un Certain Regard.

Silvio Soldini, Italian director and screenwriter. He made his first feature-length film L’aria serena dell’ovest (1990), which established him as one of Italy’s most promising young filmmakers. In 1993, he presented Un’anima divisa in due in Venice, which won the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor, awarded to Fabrizio Bentivoglio. In 2000, his film Bread and Tulips became a box-office hit winning 9 David di Donatello awards. It was followed by 8 feature-length films, such as Agata e la tempesta (2004), Giorni e nuvole (2007) and Il colore nascosto delle cose (2017), presented in Venice, as well as various documentaries including Per altri occhi, Il fiume ha sempre ragione, and Un altro domani. His most recent film, Le assaggiatrici, is an international production with an all-German cast. It is based on the novel of the same name by Rosella Postorino and it has been released in Italy in 2025.

The Jury of the Venice Award for a Debut Film will award to one of the debut feature-length films selected from the various competitive sections of the Venice Film Festival (Official Selection and Independent and Parallel Sidebars), with no joint awards allowed, the Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film, with the cash prize of 100,000 USD donated by Filmauro, will be divided equally between the director and the producer.