The remaining members of the 83rd Venice Film Festival’s competition jury have been announced

22/06/2026 – Jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal will be joined by Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Johnnie To

The outstanding members of the International Competition Jury at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival (running 2 to 12 September) have now been announced. President Maggie Gyllenhaal – whose appointment was revealed back in April (read our news) – will be joined by Tunisian director and screenwriter Kaouther Ben Hania, British composer and artist Daniel Blumberg, Italian university professor Francesco Casetti, French director and screenwriter Xavier Giannoli, Afghan director and screenwriter Shahrbanoo Sadat, and Hong Kong director and producer Johnnie To.

Kaouther Ben Hania’s most recent film, The Voice of Hind Rajab, was presented in competition in Venice, where it won the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize, and was nominated Best International Film at the Oscars.

Daniel Blumberg’s activities range from composing songs to improvisation, and from sound processing to sound design. He’s released four solo albums with the Mute label and has composed scores for various films, including The Brutalist (which won an Oscar and a BAFTA), The Testament of Ann Lee and Below the Clouds.

Francesco Casetti, meanwhile, is Sterling Professor of Humanities and Film and Media Studies at Yale. He previously taught in Italy where he was the President of the Italian University Film Council and Vice-Rector of Milan’s Catholic University. In 2000, he was named the Chair of Italian Culture at Berkeley. He was one of the founders of Filmmaker, Milano, an initiative supporting young directors. He formerly held a seat on the Scientific Committee at the National Film School in Rome and was a member of Istituto Luce’s board of directors.

Parisian Xavier Giannoli, who won the Palme d’Or in Cannes in 1998 with his short film L’Interview, has subsequently written and directed a dozen or so feature films, including the Lido-selected movies Marguerite and Lost Illusions (awarded the Best Film César in 2022) and, this year, The Rays and Shadows.

Shahrbanoo Sadat (of Wolf and Sheep and The Orphanage, which were both presented in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight) is considered a pioneering director whose films have contributed towards the development of Afghan cinema. He opened this year’s Berlinale with No Good Men.

Last but not least, the work of Hong Kong’s Johnnie To has met with resounding success at home and abroad. He was a member of the Venice jury in 2008. Four of his films have been presented in Venice: Throw Down (2004), Exiled (2006), Mad Detective (2007, co-directed by Ka-Fai Wai) and Life Without Principle (2011).

(Translated from Italian)