Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter, The Bride!, Crazy Heart) will be the president of the international jury of the competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, running Sept. 2-12. Organizers unveiled the U.S. director, actress, screenwriter and producer as the head of the jury, which will decide the Golden Lion for best film and others awards this year.
The decision was made by the board of directors of La Biennale di Venezia based on the recommendation of the director of the Venice Film Festival, Alberto Barbera.
Gyllenhaal said: “I am thrilled to accept the invitation to lead this year’s Venice Film Festival jury. Venice has always supported truthful, singular voices and I am honored to play a part in continuing that brave and necessary tradition. I will not be standing in judgement, but in curiosity, admiration and excitement.”
Said Barbera: “Maggie Gyllenhaal embodies an artistic path of uncommon consistency, constructed over time with intelligence and courage. An actress who is able to portray disturbing and multifaceted characters, she also reinvented herself as an author with The Lost Daughter, which won the Best Screenplay award here in Venice in 2021. Her perspective on cinema – both intellectual and visceral – has found further confirmation in the recent film The Bride! (2026), which consolidates her stature as an original filmmaker. Having her as the president of our jury means being able to rely on an authoritative and independent voice, animated by that authentic passion for arthouse cinema which has always represented the heart of the festival.”
Venice organizers touted Gyllenhaal as “an Academy Award-nominated actress, director, producer, and screenwriter whose career is full of thought-provoking and groundbreaking work.”
They added: “Gyllenhaal moved into television with BBC/Sundance’s The Honourable Woman (2014), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received SAG and Emmy nominations. And in 2019, Gyllenhaal concluded her three-season run as the sex worker Candy who becomes a film director in the HBO drama The Deuce, which she also produced.”
