Venice has picked the juries for its main sidebar Orizzonti (Horizions) and for its best first feature honor.
French director Valérie Donzelli (The Queen of Hearts, Marguerite & Julien) will chair the Orizzonti jury, overseeing a five-person group that will include Criterion Collection/ Janus Films president Peter Becker; U.S./Hong Kong director Elizabeth Lo (Mistress Dispeller), Mexican filmmaker David Pablos (On the Road), and Italian actress Barbara Ronchi (Familia).
The Italian filmmaker Carolina Cavalli (Amanda, The Kidnapping of Arabella) will head up the jury for best first feature, the Luigi De Laurentiis “Lion of the Future” honor. Joining her are the BAFTA-winning British-Nigerian director Akinola Davies Jr. (My Father’s Shadow) and veteran U.S. producer Ted Hope (The Ice Storm, American Splendor).
An actress turned director, Donzelli premiered her first feature The Queen of Hearts (2009), in Locarno. Her follow-up, Declaration of War (2011), opened Cannes’ Critics’ Week. Marguerite & Julien (2015), her first feature, screening in Cannes’ main competition. Her lastest feature, At Work (2025), premiered in Venice competition last year, where it won the best screenplay award.
Cavalli’s debut Amanda (2022), screened in the Venice’s Orizzonti Extra section, as well as in Toronto. Her latest, The Kidnapping of Arabella (2025) screened in Venice’s Orizzonti section, where it won the best actress honor for star Benedetta Porcaroli.
