Maggie Gyllenhaal, president of the jury at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, used the event's opening press conference to call for empathy in cinema at a time of heightened political division. Asked whether films should engage with politics, she argued that storytelling inherently opens space for understanding even the most flawed or corrupt characters, and that honest depictions of human experience are "unavoidably political" by nature.

Gyllenhaal also addressed criticism over the small number of women directors, just two, in this year's main competition, describing it as a systemic issue rather than a simple imbalance. She noted that women face greater difficulty securing financing for their films, and suggested that stories reflecting women's distinct experiences of life are often not recognised as "high art" by those who determine artistic value. She is joined on the jury by Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Johnnie To, while Valérie Donzelli and Carolina Cavalli lead the juries for the Orizzonti and Lion of the Future sections respectively.