Adnkronos Venice, April 28 – (Adnkronos) – American director Alexander Payne will preside over the International Jury of the Competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival (August 27 – September 6, 2025), which will award the Golden Lion for Best Film and other official prizes. The decision was made by the Board of Directors of the Biennale, which endorsed the proposal of the artistic director of the Cinema Sector Alberto Barbera.
Alexander Payne, in accepting Barbera's proposal, declared: "It is a great honor and a joy to be part of the Venice jury. Although I confess to the embarrassment of a director in having to compare films one against the other, I bow before the almost century-old history of the Venice Film Festival, which loudly celebrates cinema as an art. I could not be more enthusiastic".
Alberto Barbera stated: "Alexander Payne belongs to that small circle of filmmakers-cinephiles, whose passion for cinema is fueled by knowledge of films of the past and curiosity for contemporary cinema, without borders or barriers of any kind. These qualities - together with his experience as a filmmaker, director and screenwriter - make him the ideal candidate to preside over the work of the Venice Jury, called to evaluate films from all over the world. I am grateful to Alexander for accepting my invitation, which seals a knowledge that dates back to the time of his graduation short film at UCLA".
The International Jury of Venice 82, which will be chaired by Alexander Payne and will be composed of a maximum of nine personalities from the world of cinema and culture from different countries, is called upon to choose the feature films in Competition which will be awarded the following official prizes: Golden Lion for Best Film, Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize, Silver Lion – Award for Best Director, Coppa Volpi for Best Actress, Coppa Volpi for Best Actor, Award for Best Screenplay, Special Jury Prize, Marcello Mastroianni Award for an Emerging Young Actor or Actress.
The awards ceremony will take place on the closing evening (6 September 2025) of the next 82nd Venice International Film Festival of the Venice Biennale.
Sixty-four years old, Alexander Payne has directed, among other films, 'The Holdovers', 'Sideways', 'Nebraska' and 'The Descendants'.
Raised in Omaha, Nebraska, he studied history and Spanish literature at Stanford before earning a master’s degree in film directing from UCLA. His films — all comedies — are characterized by “elegant construction, biting humor and beautiful tragicomic performances,” said Alberto Barbera. They have been nominated for a total of 24 Oscars, including four times for best picture and three times for best director. Payne has won best adapted screenplay twice — for “Sideways” (2004) and “The Descendants” (2011) — and his latest film, “The Holdovers” (2023), won best supporting actress a year ago. A lifelong film enthusiast and ardent supporter of film preservation, he serves on the boards of the Film Foundation and the Telluride Film Festival. He is currently preparing a new film to shoot in rural Denmark. His dream is to make a western.