Valérie Donzelli, Carolina Cavalli to Chair Venice’s Horizons, Luigi De Laurentiis Juries
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- Valérie Donzelli will chair the Horizons jury at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, joined by Peter Becker (president of Criterion Collection and Janus Films), Hong Kong-American director Elizabeth Lo, Mexican director David Pablos, and Italian actress Barbara Ronchi.
- Donzelli's previous work includes "Declaration of War" (which opened Cannes Critics' Week) and "Just the Two of Us," for which she shared the 2024 César for best adaptation with Audrey Diwan; her most recent film, "At Work," won best screenplay at Venice.
- The Horizons jury will award seven prizes — best film, director, special jury prize, best actress, actor, screenplay, and short film — with the festival explicitly barring joint awards.
- Carolina Cavalli will chair the three-person Luigi De Laurentiis jury for best debut film (Lion of the Future), joined by British-Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. and American producer Ted Hope, the former Amazon Studios film chief.
- The Luigi De Laurentiis award carries a $100,000 cash prize from Filmauro, split equally between director and producer, drawn from debut features across the official selection and parallel sidebars.
- Venice 2026 runs September 2–12 under artistic director Alberto Barbera, with all jury prizes unveiled at the closing ceremony in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema on the Venice Lido.
Why it matters: The two jury slates shape which arthouse debuts and mid-career films will be celebrated at one of cinema's most-watched festivals. The debut jury's $100,000 prize — split evenly between director and producer — makes the Luigi De Laurentiis a meaningful financial launchpad for first-time filmmakers, while the explicit ban on joint Horizons awards forces juries to pick single winners from a competitive field.
