It is chaired by French actress Isabelle Huppert, whose nomination was announced in May. Apart from Holland, the remaining, newly-unveiled members include American director and designer James Grey, Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi.
The jury will award, among others, the Golden Lion for Best Film, Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize, Silver Lion for Best Director, Special Jury Prize, and Award for Best Screenplay.
Holland’s last film, The Green Border, received the Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Venice Festival.
Earlier this year, Holland stepped down as president of the European Film Academy EFA to focus on her new project.
Entitled Franz, it is based on the life of Franz Kafka, a German-speaking Bohemian Jewish writer, famous for such works as The Trial, The Castle and The Metamorphosis. The script, written by Holland and Marek Epstein, covers the writer’s life starting with his birth in 19th century Prague through to his death in Berlin in 1924 at the age of 40. The eponymous character is played by Idan Weiss. Cinematography is in the hands of Poland’s Tomasz Naumiuk, who worked with Holland on Mr Jones and The Green Border.
The film received 500,000 euro in support from Eurimages, a cultural fund of the Council of Europe.
Holland’s credits also include In Darkness, Europa, Europa, A Secret Garden, Washington Square, The Third Miracle, To Kill a Priest, Total Eclipse, and Copying Beethoven.
(mk/jh)
