Filmmakers James Gray, Andrew Haigh and Agnieszka Holland have joined the main competition jury for the 81st Venice International Film Festival, which will run from August 28 to September 7, festival director Alberto Barbera announced on Wednesday.

The other names on this year’s jury panel are Brazilian director and screenwriter Kleber Mendonça Filho, Mauritanian director and screenwriter Abderrahmane Sissako, Italian director and screenwriter Giuseppe Tornatore, German director and screenwriter Julia von Heinz, and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi.

Gray’s Ad Astra competed at the Venice Film Festival in 2019. Haigh’s latest film All of Us Strangers received six BAFTA nominations, while Holland’s The Green Border won the special jury prize at Venice last year.

Filho’s films have been screened at Cannes over the years. Sissako’s Timbuktu was the first Mauritanian film to earn an Oscar nomination. Tornatore’s Baarìa opened the Venice Film Festival in 2009. Von Heinz’s And Tomorrow The Entire World competed at Venice in 2020.

The jury, chaired by Isabelle Hupper, is responsible for awarding the Golden Lion for best film and other official awards.

The Venezia 81 jury will present the following official prizes to the feature films in competition without allowing joint awards: Golden Lion for Best Film, Silver Lion - Grand Jury Prize, Silver Lion for Best Director, Coppa Volpi for Best Actress, Coppa Volpi for Best Actor, Special Jury Prize, Award for Best Screenplay, and the “Marcello Mastroianni” Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress.

The winners of the official awards will be announced during the closing ceremony of the 81st Venice International Film Festival on September 7 at the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema on the Venice Lido.