The American director heading the International Jury that will award the next Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, running from August 27 to September 6.
Alexander Payne’s cinema is deeply rooted in reality, infused with a bittersweet, merciless, paradoxical — and at times illogical — irony that somehow always makes sense. His protagonists wrestle with unresolved tensions that don’t dissipate by the film’s end — on the contrary, his stories often conclude with the exact opposite of a conventional “happy ending.” All of this makes Payne’s cinema simply irresistible.
The American director and screenwriter arrives in Venice to serve as President of the International Jury of the Competition at the upcoming Venice Film Festival, which will award the Golden Lion for Best Film and the other official prizes. “It is a tremendous honor and a joy to be part of the Venice Jury,” said Payne. “Though I must admit, as a director, I feel a bit awkward about comparing films against one another. I bow before the nearly century-long legacy of the Venice Film Festival, which boldly champions cinema as an art form. I couldn’t be more excited.”
Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Payne studied History and Spanish Literature at Stanford before earning a master’s degree in filmmaking at UCLA. His films have received a total of 24 Academy Award nominations — including four for Best Picture and three for Best Director. He has twice won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay: for Sideways (2004) and The Descendants (2011). His latest film, The Holdovers (2023), starring longtime collaborator Paul Giamatti, earned Da’Vine Joy Randolph the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress last year.
“Alexander Payne,” said Venice Film Festival Artistic Director Alberto Barbera, “belongs to that rare group of cinephile-filmmakers whose passion for cinema is fueled both by a deep knowledge of film history and by a genuine curiosity for contemporary cinema, without borders or barriers. These qualities — along with his experience as a director and screenwriter — make him the ideal candidate to lead the Venice Jury, tasked with evaluating films from around the world. I’m grateful to Alexander for accepting my invitation, which also seals a long-standing connection that dates back to his UCLA graduation short.”
