Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania is part of the jury awarding the best film, actors, director and screenplay at Venice Film Festival 2026. WireImageTunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania is part of the jury awarding the best film, actors, director and screenplay at Venice Film Festival 2026. WireImageTunisian director joins international competition jury following major acclaim for The Voice of Hind RajabKaouther Ben Hania has been selected for the international competition jury at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, marking another milestone for one of the Arab world’s most acclaimed contemporary directors.The Tunisian filmmaker will join jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal in deciding this year’s main competition prizes, including the Golden Lion for Best Film. The festival will take place on the Lido from September 2 to 12.Ben Hania's selection comes a year after The Voice of Hind Rajab won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at Venice. The film, which went on to receive an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film, continued Ben Hania’s rise as a filmmaker whose work moves between documentary and fiction while addressing questions of justice, power and political urgency.The Voice of Hind Rajab follows the story of the five-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza in 2024 after spending hours on the phone with emergency responders. The Voice of Hind Rajab, featuring Clara Khoury, Saja Kilani, Nesbat Serhan and Motaz Malhees. Photo: Mime FilmsInfoBen Hania has previously received major recognition for Four Daughters (2023), which won the L’Oeil d’Or for Best Documentary at Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Her earlier film The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020) was also nominated for an Oscar for Best International Feature Film, making the Tunisian creative one of the few Arab filmmakers to receive multiple Academy Award nominations.Ben Hania will serve on the jury alongside British composer and artist Daniel Blumberg, who won an Oscar and Bafta in 2025 for his score for Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist. The film had its premiere at Venice in 2024 and went on to become one of the major awards-season successes of that year.The 2026 jury also includes Hong Kong director and producer Johnnie To, French filmmaker Xavier Giannoli, Afghan director and screenwriter Shahrbanoo Sadat and Italian professor Francesco Casetti.Gyllenhaal was announced as jury president in April. The American actress, writer and director made her feature directorial debut with The Lost Daughter, which had its premiere at Venice in 2021 and won the festival’s Best Screenplay Award.The jury was selected by the board of directors of La Biennale di Venezia, on the recommendation of festival artistic director Alberto Barbera.This year’s jury will watch all films in competition and decide the winners of the Golden Lion, the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, the Silver Lion for Best Director, the Coppa Volpi awards for Best Actress and Best Actor, the Special Jury Prize, Best Screenplay and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for a breakthrough performer.Last year’s Golden Lion went to Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, awarded by a jury led by Alexander Payne.Updated: June 23, 2026, 7:16 AM