The presidents of the international juries of the 80th Venice Film Festival

American director Damien Chazelle, French director Alice Diop and Italian director Jonas Carpignano, are the three personalities called upon to chair the international juries respectively of Venezia 80, the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film and the Orizzonti section of the 80^th Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia (30 August – 9 September 2023). The decision was made by the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia, which accepted the recommendation of the Artistic Director of the Venice Film Festival, Alberto Barbera.

In accepting the proposal, Damien Chazelle said: “For ten days each year this city of the arts, of Tintoretto and Titian and Veronese, becomes a city of cinema, and I am humbled and delighted to be invited to lead this year’s jury. I can’t wait to discover a new crop of great films at the 80th Venice Film Festival.”

Damien Chazelle (President of the Venezia 80 jury) has opened the Venice International Film Festival with his films on two occasions, in 2016 with La La Land and in 2018 with First Man. La La Land received 14 Academy Awards® nominations, winning six including Best Director. Damien Chazelle was the youngest director ever to win this award. First Man received 4 Academy Awards® nominations, and won one. His debut film, Whiplash (2014), received 5 Academy Awards® nominations, winning three. His most recent film Babylon (2022) received three Academy Awards® nominations.

In accepting her appointment as President of the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film jury, Alice Diop said: “What a great honour, what a great joy, to have been chosen to preside over the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film, at a festival that welcomed me and offered me so much last year. I am happy to pass on the baton this year and to work to see a new voice emerge in the cinematic landscape that the Venice Festival has always sought to renew.”

With her debut feature-length fiction film Saint Omer, Alice Diop won both the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize, and the Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film at the Venice International Film Festival in 2022.  The film, France’s official selection for the Academy Awards®, went on to win many international accolades, including the César award for best debut film, and the Jean Vigo Prize. For Nous (2020), she won the award for best documentary and best film in the Encounters section of the Berlin Film Festival.

In accepting his role as President of the Orizzonti jury, Jonas Carpignano said: “It is a tremendous honour for me to chair the jury of Orizzonti this year, and I am very grateful to the Venice Film Festival for this privilege. Year after year the rich and bold selection of Orizzonti offers us a deep immersion in the world of cinema. I can’t wait to live the emotions and to experience the diverse realities we will come to know in the theatres on the Lido. To have the opportunity to see some of the finest films of the year in one of the most beautiful places in the world is something truly special.”

Jonas Carpignano made his debut with Mediterranea (2015), presented at the Semaine de la Critique at Cannes, later nominated for three Spirit Awards, and winner of the Breakthrough Director prize at the Gotham Awards. Two years later A Ciambra (2017), which won an award at Cannes, was selected to represent Italy for the Academy Awards®. A Ciambra received seven nominations for the David di Donatello and won the award for Best Director. In 2021, A Chiara, presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at Cannes, won the Europa Cinemas Label award, received six nominations for the David di Donatello and won the Best Actress award.

The Jury of Venezia 80 will award the following official prizes to the feature films in Competition:  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.

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.

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, and Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film.

Academy Award® winner Damien Chazelle most recently directed the Golden Globe and SAG-nominated Babylon, starring Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, and breakout star Diego Calva. He previously directed First Man, the riveting story of NASA's mission to land a man on the moon garnered four Academy Awards® nominations, winning Best Achievement in Visual Effects. He wrote and directed the modern musical La La Land, which earned 14 Academy Awards® nominations, winning six awards, including Best Director for Chazelle, who is the youngest director to receive the award.  The film also won a record-breaking seven Golden Globes and was also honored with five BAFTA wins and 11 nominations. His 2014 film, Whiplash, received five Academy Awards® nominations and three wins, including Best Supporting Actor for J.K. Simmons. His 2013 short, based on the Whiplash screenplay, won the Short Film Jury Prize at Sundance, and the following year the feature film took home both the Jury and Audience Awards from the festival. Chazelle made his first feature, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, as an undergraduate student and the film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival.

Alice Diop, after receiving a master's degree in history from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University and a Diplômes d’études supérieures spécialisées (D.E.S.S.) in visual sociology, attended the documentary film workshop at La Fémis. Since 2005, she has been making documentaries that have been selected by international festivals (Cinéma du Réel, BFI London, Karlovy Vary, Viennale). In 2017, she won a César for Best Short Film with Vers la tendresse and the Grand Prix at the Brive  Film Festival. That same year, she won first prize in the French competition at  the Cinéma du Réel festival with her documentary La Permanence. In 2011, she won the Prix des Bibliothèques with her first feature-length documentary, La Mort de Danton. Her most recent documentary, Nous, was selected for the Encounters section at the 2021 Berlinale, where she won the Best Documentary Award and the Encounters Award. Her first feature-length fiction film, Saint Omer, selected in competition at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival, won the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize and the Lion of the Future - “Luigi De Laurentiis” Award for Best Debut Film, as well as a dozen other prizes at numerous international festivals. Saint Omer was chosen to represent France at the 2022 Academy Awards®.

Jonas Carpignano (Italy/USA) director, screenwriter, producer. His first film, Mediterranea (2015), whose preview screening was held during the Semaine de la Critique in Cannes, was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards and received the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award at the Gotham Awards. Two years later, his movie A Ciambra (2017) was awarded in Cannes and selected to represent Italy at the Academy Awards®. It received seven David di Donatello nominations and won the prize for Best Director. In 2021, A Chiara was presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes, where it received the Europa Cinemas Label award. The movie was nominated for six David di Donatello awards and won the prize for Best Actress.