The 83rd Venice International Film Festival has announced its 2026 winners, with May el-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown taking the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion for Best Film.
The awards were announced during the closing ceremony on Saturday, at the Lido di Venezia, bringing the festival, which ran from September 2 to 12, to a close.
Woman Unknown, a Denmark-Sweden-Latvia production, also earned Mathilde Arcel the Coppa Volpi for Best Actress.
Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, while Ilya Khrzhanovsky was named Best Director for DAU.
John Malkovich won the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor for his performance in Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine.
Main Competition
Golden Lion for Best Film: Woman Unknown — May el-Toukhy
Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize: Possible Love — Lee Chang-dong
Silver Lion – Best Director: Ilya Khrzhanovsky — DAU
Coppa Volpi for Best Actress: Mathilde Arcel — Woman Unknown
Coppa Volpi for Best Actor: John Malkovich — Wild Horse Nine
Best Screenplay: Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo and Olivier Gorce — A Good Little Soldier
Special Jury Prize: NAZA — Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress: Malou Khebizi — A Place to Heal
The official jury, chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal, selected the winners after viewing all 21 films in the main competition.
Orizzonti Awards
Best Film: Diane in the Loop — Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni
Best Director: Jacqueline Lentzou — A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra
Special Jury Prize: House of the Wind — Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
Best Actress: Laleh Marzban — Falling House
Best Actor: Riccardo Scamarcio — The Children of the Monkey
Best Screenplay: Tommaso Landucci and Damiano Femfert — The Children of the Monkey
Best Short Film: A Few Moments of Happiness — Shaden Safieddine Tazi
Other Official Awards
Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Venice Award for a Debut Film: House of the Wind — Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
Armani Beauty Audience Award: I Matter — Alina Șerban
Venice Classics Award for Best Restored Film: Long Night of 1943 — Florestano Vancini
Venice Immersive Grand Prize: The Pigeon Ring — Shixin Tao and Yuqi Zhang
Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize: Out of the Ashes — Rory Mitchell and Nonny De La Peña
Venice Immersive Achievement Prize: Empire at Sea — Peter Flaherty
Lifetime Achievement
American actor, director and producer George Clooney and actress Ellen Burstyn were also honoured with Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement during the festival. La Biennale confirmed Clooney’s award at the opening ceremony on September 2, while Burstyn received hers on September 7.
The festival opened with Danny Boyle’s Ink and closed with Giovanni Veronesi’s Dio ride (God Laughs), which was screened out of competition after the awards ceremony.
