The festival is scheduled to take place from August 28 to September 7, 2024.
The 81st Venice International Film Festival has announced the members of its international juries for this year’s event, including those for the Orizzonti section and the ‘Luigi De Laurentiis’ Venice Award. The festival is scheduled to run from August 28 to September 7.
The Orizzonti jury, chaired by American director and screenwriter Debra Granik, includes a diverse group of filmmakers and actors which includes Iranian writer, director and producer Ali Asgari; Syrian film director and screenwriter Soudade Kaadan; Greek director, screenwriter and producer Christos Nikou; Swedish actress and director Tuva Novotny; Hungarian filmmaker Gábor Reisz; and Italian screenwriter and director Valia Santella.
Ali Asgari, a notable Iranian independent filmmaker born in Tehran, has received numerous international awards. His films focus on marginalised lives in Iran. Asgari’s debut feature Disappearance premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival in 2017. His second feature, Until Tomorrow, premiered at Berlinale 2022 and his third film, Terrestrial Verses, was showcased in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival 2023.
Soudade Kaadan, a Syrian film director and screenwriter based in London, gained international acclaim with her debut feature The Day I Lost My Shadow, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2018 and won the Lion of the Future Award for Best Debut Film. Her short film Aziza won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2019. Her second feature, Nezouh, won the ARMANI BEAUTY Audience Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2022, making her the only Arab woman director to win twice at Venice.
The Orizzonti jury will present the following awards, with no joint awards allowed: Orizzonti Award for Best Film, Orizzonti Award for Best Director, Special Orizzonti Jury Prize, Orizzonti Award for Best Actress, Orizzonti Award for Best Actor, Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay and Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film.
