The Biennale di Venezia has appointed the international juries of the Horizons section and the Luigi De Laurentiis award for a debut feature at the 83rd Venice Film Festival.

French director, actress and screenwriter Valérie Donzelli will preside over the Horizons jury. She will be joined by American film distributor Peter Becker, Hong Kong American director Elizabeth Lo, Mexican director and screenwriter David Pablos and Italian actress Barbara Ronchi.

Donzelli’s credits include “Declaration of War,” which opened the 50th Critics’ Week in Cannes, and “Just the Two of Us,” for which he shared the César award for best adaptation with Audrey Diwan in 2024. His most recent feature, “At Work,” won best screenplay at Venice.

Becker serves as president of the Criterion Collection and Janus Films, the latter celebrating its 70th anniversary this year as the first theatrical distributor to bring international arthouse cinema to American audiences. He launched the Criterion Channel streaming service in 2019.

Lo’s debut documentary, “Stray,” won best international film at Hot Docs, while its follow-up, “Mistress Dispeller,” premiered in Venice in 2024 and was shortlisted for the Oscar. Pablos’ “On the Road” won the Horizons Award for Best Film and the Queer Lion at Venice, while Ronchi has appeared in multiple Venice competitions and Horizons titles, including “Familia,” which won the Pasinetti Special Award.

The Horizons jury will present seven awards: Horizons Award for best film, best director, Horizons special jury award and best actress, actor, screenplay and short film. Joint prizes will not be allowed.

The Italian screenwriter and director Carolina Cavalli will preside over the jury of the Luigi De Laurentiis Venice Prize for her debut feature: The Lion of the Future. She will be joined by British-Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. and American producer Ted Hope.

Cavalli’s second feature film as director, “The Kidnapping of Arabella,” premiered at Horizons in Venice, where Benedetta Porcaroli won best actress. Davies Jr.’s first feature film, “My Father’s Shadow,” earned a special mention for the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2025 and won the 2026 BAFTA for outstanding debut. Hope, producer of more than 70 films, launched Amazon Studios’ feature film division, which garnered 19 Oscar nominations and five wins.

Luigi De Laurentiis’ jury will select its winner from among the first feature films in the festival’s official selection and from the independent and parallel sections. The prize is endowed with $100,000 in cash, donated by Filmauro, which will be divided equally between the director and the producer.

All awards will be announced during the festival’s closing ceremony on September 12 in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema on Venice Lido. The festival will take place from September 2 to 12 under the direction of Alberto Barbera.