Venezia 82: Alexander Payne Named President of the International Jury

The 82nd Venice International Film Festival (August 27 – September 6, 2025) has announced that Alexander Payne, acclaimed American director of The Holdovers, Sideways, Nebraska, and The Descendants, will serve as President of the International Jury.

Payne will oversee the jury tasked with awarding the prestigious Golden Lion for Best Film, along with other official prizes at the Venice 82 competition.

The decision was confirmed by the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia, based on Alberto Barbera’s recommendation, Director of the Venice Film Festival.

Alexander Payne’s Statement: “An Enormous Honor and Joy”

In accepting the role, Payne expressed both enthusiasm and reverence for Venice’s cinematic legacy: “It’s an enormous honor and joy to serve on the jury at Venice. Although I share a filmmaker’s ambivalence about comparing films against one another, I revere the Venice Film Festival’s nearly 100-year history of loudly celebrating film as an art form. I couldn’t be more excited.”

His words underline his profound respect for cinema as a cultural and artistic force.

Alberto Barbera on Payne’s Appointment

Festival Director Alberto Barbera praised Payne’s appointment, noting his deep cinephilia and openness to all forms of contemporary and historical cinema: “Alexander Payne belongs to the small circle of filmmakers-cinephiles whose passion for cinema is fueled by knowledge of films of the past and curiosity about contemporary cinema, without boundaries or barriers of any kind.”

Barbera emphasized Payne’s experience as a screenwriter as another key strength, making him the ideal figure to preside over a diverse and international jury.

Their connection, Barbera revealed, dates back to Payne’s early days, to the time of his graduation short film at UCLA.

Prizes to Be Awarded by the Venezia 82 Jury

The International Jury, chaired by Alexander Payne and composed of up to nine renowned figures from the world of cinema and culture, will award the following official prizes during the closing ceremony on September 6, 2025:

• Golden Lion for Best Film

• Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize

• Silver Lion – Best Director

• Coppa Volpi for Best Actress

• Coppa Volpi for Best Actor

• Award for Best Screenplay

• Special Jury Prize

• Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress

The awards celebrate the best of global cinema and help identify future masters of the art form.

Alexander Payne: A Life in Film

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Alexander Payne studied history and Spanish literature at Stanford University before earning a master’s degree in film directing at UCLA.

His body of work — described for its “elegant construction, biting humor, and fine tragi-comic performances” — has earned 24 Oscar nominations, including four Best Picture and three Best Director nominations.

Payne won two Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay (Sideways, 2004, and The Descendants, 2011). His most recent film, The Holdovers (2023), brought home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Beyond filmmaking, Payne is an avid film preservationist and serves on the boards of The Film Foundation and the Telluride Film Festival. He is currently preparing a new film set in rural Denmark and still dreams of directing a Western one day.

The 82nd Venice International Film Festival runs from August 27 to September 6, 2025.