VENICE — Maggie Gyllenhaal will preside over the jury at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, returning to the Lido di Venezia where, in 2021, she won the Award for Best Screenplay for The Lost Daughter, her directorial debut adapting Elena Ferrante’s novel.
That film earned three Academy Award nominations and established Gyllenhaal as one of the most compelling filmmaker voices of her generation. She arrived at Venice that year as a debut director and left with the festival’s endorsement, and her return this year to chair the jury has been touted by some to be less a career milestone and more a homecoming.
“Venice has always supported truthful, singular voices,” Gyllenhaal said on accepting the role, “and I am honoured to play a part in continuing that brave and necessary tradition. I will not be standing in judgement, but in curiosity, admiration and excitement.”
Festival director Alberto Barbera made clear his endorsement, noting that Gyllenhaal “embodies an artistic path of uncommon consistency, constructed over time with intelligence and courage,” according to a statement by the organisers. Her most recent film, The Bride!, a bold reimagining of the Frankenstein story starring Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Annette Bening, and Penélope Cruz, was released in March 2026 and consolidates, in Barbera’s words, “her stature as an original filmmaker.” That a jury president arrives with a major new film in circulation rather than resting on past achievements says something about the kind of creative authority Venice chooses to place at the centre of its competition.
Jury oversight
The jury Gyllenhaal will lead, comprising up to seven international figures from cinema and culture, will award the full slate of official prizes on the closing night of September 12, 2026. These include the Golden Lion for Best Film, the Silver Lions for Grand Jury Prize and Best Director, the Coppa Volpi (Best Actress and Best Actor cups), the Special Jury Prize, Best Screenplay, and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress. A Golden Lion win can shift a film’s entire awards-season trajectory, opening doors to distributors, critics, and Oscar voters in a way few other festival selections can match.
Founded in 1932, the Venice International Film Festival, or Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica (International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art), is the world’s oldest film festival and one of the “Big Five” alongside Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, and Sundance. The 83rd edition runs September 2–12, 2026, on the Lido di Venezia, with the Palazzo del Cinema on Lungomare Marconi as its central venue. Many screenings are open to the public; accreditation for press and industry is managed through the Biennale Cinema website.
Italy Now will be covering Venice 83 from the Lido.
