Alexander Payne to Head Venice Film Festival Jury

Alexander Payne will preside over the main jury of the upcoming Venice Film Festival.

The two-time Oscar winner was last in Venice with “Downsizing” his sci-fi comedy about humans who get miniaturized to save the planet, starring Matt Damon, which opened the festival in 2017.

Payne’s eight feature films – all comedies – have been nominated for 24 Oscars, including four times for best picture and three times for director. He has won twice for adapted screenplay. Payne’s latest film “The Holdovers” won the supporting actress Oscar in 2024. His other titles include “Citizen Ruth” (1996), “Election” (1999), “About Schmidt” (2002), “The Descendants” (2011), and “Nebraska” (2013).

He is currently preparing a new film to be shot in rural Denmark, details of which are being kept under wraps.

Alexander Payne, who is 64, grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and studied history and Spanish literature at Stanford before earning a master’s degree in film directing at UCLA. 

Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera in a statement praised Payne for belonging “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.”

“These qualities – along with his experience as a screenwriter – make him an ideal candidate to preside over the work of the Venice jury, which is called upon to evaluate films from around the world,” he added.

“I am grateful to Alexander for accepting my invitation, which seals an acquaintance that goes back to the days of his graduation short film at UCLA,” Barbera continued.

“It’s an enormous honor and joy to serve on the jury at Venice,” commented Payne.

“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.”

The 82nd edition of Venice will run Aug. 27-Sept. 6