Each year, the jury of the Venice Film Festival is chaired by an internationally recognized personality of cinema.
From 1935 to 1939, senator and entrepreneur Giuseppe Volpi, founder of the Festival, held the office of president of the jury. Volpi, together with journalist Mario Gromo holds the record of acting as Jury President for 5 times.
The first foreign president of the jury was Scottish documentarian John Grierson. The first woman who held the office of president of the jury was screenwriter Suso Cecchi d'Amico.
In 1992, two people held the office of president of the jury together: actor Dennis Hopper and director Jiří Menzel.
From 1940 to 1942 the Festivals are considered as not disputed, while from 1943 to 1945 the Festival wasn't organized due to World War II. From 1969 to 1972 and in 1979 the Festival was not competitive, while from 1973 to 1978 the Festival was not organized.
| Year | President | Profession | Nationality | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giuseppe Volpi | Producer | Italy | ||
| Vinicio Marinucci | Journalist, Filmmaker | |||
| Luigi Chiarini | ||||
| Mario Gromo | Journalist | |||
| Eugenio Montale | Poet | |||
| Ignazio Silone | ||||
| Mario Gromo | Journalist | |||
| John Grierson | Documentarian | Scotland | ||
| René Clair | Filmmaker | France | ||
| Jean Grémillon | France | |||
| Luigi Chiarini | Journalist, Filmmaker | Italy | ||
| Marcel Achard | Screenwriter | France | ||
| Filippo Sacchi | Journalist | Italy | ||
| Luigi Chiarini | Journalist, Filmmaker | |||
| Arturo Lanocita | Journalist | |||
| Mario Soldati | Filmmaker | |||
| Carlo Bo | Poet | |||
| Giorgio Bassani | ||||
| Alberto Moravia | ||||
| Guido Piovene | Journalist | |||
| Suso Cecchi d'Amico | Screenwriter | |||
| Italo Calvino | Poet | |||
| Marcel Carné | Filmmaker | France | ||
| Bernardo Bertolucci | Italy | |||
| Michelangelo Antonioni | ||||
| Krzysztof Zanussi | Poland | |||
| Alain Robbe-Grillet | France | |||
| Irene Papas | Actress | Greece | ||
| Sergio Leone | Filmmaker | Italy | ||
| Andrei Smirnov | Actor | Soviet Union | ||
| Gore Vidal | Poet, Screenwriter | United States | ||
| Gian Luigi Rondi | Journalist | Italy | ||
| Dennis Hopper | Actor, Director | United States | ||
| Jiří Menzel | Filmmaker | Czechoslovakia | ||
| 1993 | Peter Weir | Australia | ||
| David Lynch | United States | |||
| Jorge Semprún | Poet | Spain | ||
| Roman Polanski | Filmmaker | Poland | ||
| Jane Campion | New Zealand | |||
| Ettore Scola | Italy | |||
| Emir Kusturica | Serbia | |||
| Miloš Forman | Czech Republic | |||
| Nanni Moretti | Actor and Filmmaker | Italy | ||
| Gong Li | Actress | China | ||
| Mario Monicelli | Filmmaker | Italy | ||
| John Boorman | England | |||
| Dante Ferretti | Production Designer | Italy | ||
| Catherine Deneuve | Actress | France | ||
| Zhang Yimou | Filmmaker | China | ||
| Wim Wenders | Germany | |||
| Ang Lee | Taiwan | |||
| Quentin Tarantino | United States | |||
| Darren Aronofsky | ||||
| Michael Mann | United States | |||
| Bernardo Bertolucci | Italy | |||
| Alexandre Desplat | Composer | France | ||
| Alfonso Cuarón | Filmmaker | Mexico | ||
| Sam Mendes | England | |||
| Annette Bening | Actress | United States | ||
| Guillermo del Toro | Filmmaker | Mexico | ||
| Lucrecia Martel | Argentina | |||
| Cate Blanchett | Actress | Australia | ||
| Bong Joon-ho | Filmmaker | South Korea | ||
| Julianne Moore | Actress | United States | ||
| Damien Chazelle | Filmmaker | |||
| Isabelle Huppert | Actress | France |
The following individuals served as president of the jury two or more times:
| Times | President | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | ||
| 3 | Luigi Chiarini | |
| 2 | Bernardo Bertolucci |