The closing ceremony of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Saturday 12 September 2026 decreed the winners among 21 titles competing in the competition. Let's discover all the awards that have been awarded, from the prestigious Golden Lion to the film "Woman Unknown" by May el-Toukhy up to the Orizzonti Award for best male performance to Riccardo Scamarcio for "I Figli della Scimmia".
Edited by Camilla Sernagiotto
The awards ceremony of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival took place on Saturday 12 September 2026. The Competition jury, chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal and composed of Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Johnnie To, awarded the awards after viewing the 21 films in competition. Let's discover all the awards, from the Golden Lion to those of the Orizzonti competition.
The Golden Lion for best film goes to Kvinde Ukendt (Woman Unknown), by May el-Toukhy. The Danish, Swedish and Latvian co-production tells the post-war story through the story of Marie, played by Mathilde Arcel. The young woman, who works as a maid and nanny, sees the possibility of changing her life in marriage to a rich widower. However, a secret linked to a relationship with a German soldier during the occupation risks destroying the future she has achieved.
The Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize goes to Ga-neung-han sa-rang (Possible Love), by Lee Chang-dong. The South Korean film intertwines the lives of two married couples during the making of a documentary. Against the backdrop of mass layoffs and repression of strikes, unconfessed desires and tensions related to the relationship between labor and capital emerge. The director thus investigates the possibility of resisting the forces that condition existence.
The Silver Lion – Award for Best Director goes to Ilya Khrzhanovsky for Dau. The film, a co-production between Germany, France and Sweden, spans four decades of Soviet history. At the center is a physicist of Greek origin, played by Teodor Currentzis, who works in a secret research institute also dedicated to the construction of the atomic bomb. The project, the result of over twenty years of work, mixes documentary, dream, vision and memory to tell the story of a society dominated by ideology, surveillance and privilege.
The Volpi Cup for best female performance goes to Mathilde Arcel for Kvinde Ukendt (Woman Unknown) by May el-Toukhy, the film awarded the Golden Lion. The Danish actress plays Marie, a young woman who, in the immediate post-war period, seeks a chance for redemption in marriage. However, the past linked to the German occupation becomes a threat to his new life.
The Volpi Cup for best male performance goes to John Malkovich for Wild Horse Nine, by Martin McDonagh. The American actor (who thanked him via video message because he was busy on the set of a film) plays MJ, the head of the CIA who, on the eve of the Chilean coup d'état in 1973, sends two agents from Santiago to Easter Island. In this remote scenario, among the moai statues, the protagonists are confronted with their pasts and the conspiracies of the present.
The Award for Best Screenplay goes to Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo and Olivier Gorce for Un bon petit soldat, by Stéphane Brizé. The French film tells the professional and personal crisis of Carla, a 43-year-old executive played by Alba Rohrwacher. The protagonist, head of Human Resources of a large company, must reconcile the well-being of employees with the objectives imposed by the management. The discovery of a case of toxic management forces her to confront the compromises of a system based on power.
The Special Jury Prize goes to Naza, by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. The 80-minute British documentary investigates the systems behind the mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv, the film was born from the desire of the two Israeli directors to question themselves about the responsibilities of their country. Through investigations by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call, the work reflects on the mechanisms of dehumanization and the silences that accompany violence.
The Marcello Mastroianni Award for an emerging young actress goes to Malou Khebizi for 15/18 (A Place To Heal), by Cédric Kahn. The actress plays one of the teenagers hospitalized in the psychiatry department of a public hospital. The film follows Lucia, seventeen, and other kids dealing with suffering, fragility and self-destructive impulses. Khebizi helps to restore concreteness to a wounded adolescence, without erasing its irony, anger and possibility of healing.
The Orizzonti Award for best film goes to Un détour par Diane (Diane in the Loop), by Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni. The Belgian-French film tells the story of the relationship between Diane and her mother, marked by a trauma from the past. The protagonist discovers that her mother was raped three years before her birth and decides to avenge her. The story becomes a reflection on the transmission of trauma, on justice and on the difficulty of protecting those you love.
The Orizzonti Award for best director goes to Jacqueline Lentzou for A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra. The Greek, German and French film is an 88-minute work, with Evita Andriopoulou, Eleni Vergeti and Anastasia Gouliamou among the protagonists. The director made a name for herself in the section dedicated to cinematographic research and new forms of storytelling. The award recognizes his direction of a work that brought an independent European production to the Lido.
The Special Orizzonti Jury Prize goes to House of the Wind, by Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu. The film, a co-production between Cameroon, France, Belgium, Benin and Saudi Arabia, lasts 102 minutes. The cast includes Josette Kwanya, Moudjeu Pouadeu and Adrien Jolivet. The opera brings Cameroonian direction and a story set on the African continent to the Lido.
The Orizzonti Award for best male performance goes to Riccardo Scamarcio for I Figli della Scimmia by Tommaso Landucci. The Italian film, lasting 110 minutes, also includes Fausto Russo Alesi, Lidiya Liberman, Cristina Odasso and Luigi Diberti in the cast. Scamarcio, one of the most successful Italian performers in national and international cinema, wins recognition for this absolutely successful role.
The Orizzonti Award for best female performance goes to Laleh Marzban for Falling House, by Mohsen Gharaei. The Iranian, American and German film, lasting 130 minutes, has the original title Moragheb. The cast also includes Farhad Aslani, Rima Raminfar and Elena Khakbazan.
The Orizzonti Award for best screenplay goes to Tommaso Landucci and Damiano Femfert for I Figli della Scimmia, directed by Tommaso Landucci himself. The Italian film, lasting 110 minutes, stars Riccardo Scamarcio, Fausto Russo Alesi, Lidiya Liberman and Cristina Odasso among its main actors. The work thus wins two awards in the same section, one for the screenplay and one for the male performance.
The Orizzonti Award for best short film goes to Quelques Instants De Bonheur (A Few Moments of Happiness) by Shaden Safieddine Tazi. The film, lasting 18 minutes, is a Franco-British production. The work belongs to the Orizzonti short film competition and is classified as a documentary. The award rewards the director's work in the field of cinematographic research and experimentation.
The Lion of the Future – Venice First Work Award “Luigi De Laurentiis” goes to La Maison du Vent (House of the Wind) by Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu, which thus wins a double award. The film - a co-production between Cameroon, France, Belgium, Benin, Saudi Arabia and Qatar - tells the story of Josette, an elderly mother who lives in Yaoundé and tries to convince her six children, who have emigrated abroad, to return home. The prize was awarded by the jury chaired by Carolina Cavalli and composed of Akinola Davies Jr. and Ted Hope.
The Venezia Classici Award for the best restored film goes to The Long Night of '43 by Florestano Vancini. The 1960 film, based on the story Una notte del '43 by Giorgio Bassani, is set in Ferrara in the last months of 1943. The story follows the pharmacist Barilari, his wife Anna and the inhabitants of the city, amidst political tensions and the violence of fascism. The restoration was carried out by the Cineteca di Bologna Foundation in collaboration with Compass Film.
The Venice Immersive Grand Prize goes to The Pigeon Ring by Shixin Tao and Yuqi Zhang. The 35-minute Chinese project is a virtual reality and installation work. The recognition arrives in the tenth edition of Venice Immersive, a section dedicated to immersive arts and XR media. The event presents works that combine cinematic narration, technology and spectator participation.
The Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize goes to Out of the Ashes by Rory Mitchell and Nonny De La Peña. The US project, lasting 26 minutes, is a work of virtual reality and installation. The jury rewards the work in the section dedicated to XR works, which includes virtual reality, mixed reality and installations. The recognition underlines the value of an immersive experience capable of expanding the possibilities of cinematic storytelling.
The Venice Immersive Achievement Award goes to Empire at Sea by Peter Flaherty. The project is presented in the Venice Immersive competition, dedicated to new forms of expression through virtual reality, mixed reality and installations. The award recognizes the work of creating the work within the tenth edition of the section. Venice Immersive takes place at Lazzaretto Vecchio, on the island of Lido di Venezia.
