The Oscar-winning director of Nomadland will be part of the Bong Joon-ho-led jury of this year's Venice Film Festival
Fresh off her historic win at the Oscars as the first Asian woman—and second-ever woman—to win Best Director, Chloé Zhao is now joining the Venice Film Festival main jury, presided by fellow Oscar winner, Bong Joon-ho.
The jury will comprise of four women and three men including Belgian-French actress Virginie Efira, British actress Cynthia Erivo, Canadian actor and producer, Sarah Gadon, Italian director Saverio Costanzo and Romanian-born, German director Alexander Nanu.
The prestigious film festival will take place on Lido, a small island in the Venice lagoon from September 1–11. Zhao's Nomadland premiered at the film festival last year and took home the Golden Lion award before coming home triumphant at the Oscars, taking home both Best Picture and Best Director. The full festival lineup will be announced on July 26.
See also: Chloé Zhao On Why "Nomadland" Is a Film For Everyone––And Working With Marvel
The Bong-led jury will award several prizes in the Competition section such as the 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, Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor and Actress and more.
Meanwhile, over at the Horizons section—dedicated to cutting-edge works—Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanić will take the helm, together with jury Norwegian director Mona Fastvold, Iranian director Shahram Mokri, Italian writer Nadia Terranova and others. They will award prizes such as Orrizontini Award for Best Film, Best Director, Best Short Film and many more.
Zhao's next project is the Marvel movie, Eternals—which itself is also historic as she's the first Asian woman to direct a Marvel Studios film. Talking to Tatler in March 2017 on the influence of her work and historic win, Zhao says, "I’ve been quite truthful to the choices I’ve made. Hopefully, that will show young filmmakers, especially Asian women, not to change themselves to fit in. You think that’s your only way to get to the mainstream, but where you’re from and who you are is good enough."
See also: Hong Kong Director Ann Hui Talks Winning The Golden Lion Award And Her Filmmaking Journey