The Golden Lion goes to Woman Unknown
The most prestigious award of the festival, the Golden Lion for Best Film, was awarded to Woman Unknown (Kvinde Ukendt) by Danish director May el-Toukhy, a co-production between Denmark, Sweden, and Latvia. The film also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, awarded to Mathilde Arcel. It's a lineup that rewards a work and a protagonist that convinced the jury chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal, alongside Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat, and Johnnie To.
Venice 83: All the Awards
Venice 83: All the Awards
Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize: Possible Love by Lee Chang-dong
Silver Lion – Best Director: Ilya Khrzhanovsky for Dau
Volpi Cup – Best Actress: Mathilde Arcel for Woman Unknown
Volpi Cup – Best Actor: John Malkovich for Wild Horse Nine by Martin McDonagh
Best Screenplay Award: Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo, and Olivier Gorce for Un bon petit soldat
Special Jury Prize: Naza by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress: Malou Khebizi for 15/18 (A Place to Heal) by Cédric Kahn.
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress: Malou Khebizi for 15/18 (A Place to Heal) by Cédric Kahn.
Horizons
The Horizons section is dedicated to the new aesthetic and expressive trends in contemporary cinema. Here too, the awards celebrated works from various countries and languages.
Best Director: Jacqueline Lentzou for A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra
Special Jury Prize: La maison du vent (House of the Wind) by Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
Best Actress: Laleh Marzban for Moragheb (Falling House)
Best Actor: Riccardo Scamarcio for I figli della scimmia by Tommaso Landucci
Best Screenplay: Tommaso Landucci and Damiano Femfert for I figli della scimmia
Best Short Film: Quelques instants de bonheur (A Few Moments of Happiness) by Shaden Safieddine Tazi.
For Italian cinema, the recognition to Riccardo Scamarcio is one of the most significant achievements of the edition: the actor won the award for Best Actor in Orizzonti for I figli della scimmia.
For Italian cinema, the recognition of Riccardo Scamarcio is one of the most significant achievements of the edition: the actor won the award for Best Actor in the Horizons section for I figli della scimmia.
The Lion of the Future
The Lion of the Future – Venice First Film Award Luigi De Laurentiis, dedicated to a debut film presented in the various sections of the festival, was awarded to La maison du vent (House of the Wind) by Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu.
Venice Spotlight
In the Venice Spotlight section, dedicated to works offering a particularly original perspective on contemporary cinema, the Armani Beauty Audience Award went to Eu contez (I Matter) by Alina Șerban.
Venice Classics
Among the restored films in Venice Classics, the award for Best Restored Film went to La lunga notte del ’43 by Florestano Vancini.
Venice Immersive
Venice Immersive
The festival increasingly looks at new forms of audiovisual storytelling. In the Venice Immersive section, dedicated to virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive experiences, three main awards were given:
Special Jury Prize: Out of the Ashes by Rory Mitchell and Nonny De La Peña
Achievement Award: Empire at Sea by Peter Flaherty.
Achievement Award: Empire at Sea by Peter Flaherty.
And the Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement?
The 2026 edition also celebrated two great figures in the history of cinema: George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn, both awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. Clooney received the honor as an actor, director, and producer, while Burstyn was celebrated for a career spanning over six decades of cinema.
An Edition Between Big Names and New Voices
The Venice 2026 awards bring together established authors like Lee Chang-dong, Ilya Khrzhanovsky, and Martin McDonagh with directors and performers from younger generations. Alongside the Golden Lion for Woman Unknown, there is space for auteur cinema, debut films, short films, and new forms of storytelling.
And perhaps this is one of the most interesting aspects of a festival like Venice: not only awarding the most anticipated films but also helping to decide which stories, which authors, and which languages will enter the cinematic discourse in the coming years.
