Previously announced, the esteemed two-time Oscar-winning director, Alexander Payne (known for “The Holdovers”, “Sideways”, and “Nebraska”), has been appointed to lead the jury as its president. Interestingly, Payne has only presented one film in the Venice competition before; his work, “Downsizing”, made its debut on the Lido back in 2017.
Despite the documentary not convincing me otherwise about the October 2009 incident involving the ‘Balloon Boy’ supposedly being in a homemade flying saucer, which I still believe to be a hoax, an unexpected emotion emerged within me upon leaving the story – empathy for the Heene family. Let me clarify…
The series prepared for its second season in the spring, following the surprising cliffhanger of its first season finale that aired post-renewal of NCIS: Origins by CBS in 2025. While Gibbs achieved some milestones by Season 1’s end, he has quite a distance to go before equaling the powerful portrayal of Gibbs, as played by Mark Harmon, on NCIS. In an interview with TVLine, co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal remarked:
Following his departure from the position of Creative Director at Givenchy and focusing more on his innovative streetwear brand ALYX, Matthew M. Williams is now venturing into a deeply personal and liberating phase, featuring the debut of his own namesake project. This new endeavor represents a significant turning point for the designer, symbolizing a reclamation of pure creative autonomy, where fashion creation regains its inherent worth instead of being influenced by external factors.
Led by Creative Director Rowan Woods and this year’s advisory chair, Jane Tranter who is the CEO of Bad Wolf, the 50th edition of the festival offers masterclasses, “In Conversation” discussions, and keynote speeches, including the esteemed James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture.
In this rephrased version, I have used simpler sentences to convey the same information in a more accessible manner.