By Variety | Created at 2026-09-12 18:47:38 | Updated at 2026-09-20 05:34:11
1 week ago
The Venice Film Festival is revealing its award winners, including the prestigious Golden Lion for best film.
John Malkovich took home the Volpi Cup for best actor for his performance as an eccentric CIA agent in “Wild Horse Nine,” which has already scored Oscar buzz for the 72-year-old actor. Though he couldn’t be at the ceremony since he was filming another project in Montreal, Malkovich beamed in via video to thank the jury for his prize.
“I am humbled to be chosen for this award, which has been given to so many wonderful actors over the past 83 iterations of the Venice Film Festival,” Malkovich said.
“NAZA,” from Israeli “No Other Land” co-directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, were awarded the special jury prize for their powerful Gaza documentary. “It’s honestly not very easy to stand here, thinking of all the Israeli politicians and journalists who are now attacking this film and denying it without even seeing it,” Abraham said, adding: “Denial of a crime is what helps it persist.”
This year’s competition jury is headed by president Maggie Gyllenhaal and includes “The Voice of Hind Rajab” director Kaouther Ben Hania, Hong Kong filmmaking giant Johnnie To, Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat, French director and screenwriter Xavier Giannoli, “The Brutalist” composer Daniel Blumberg and U.S.-based Italian film academic Francesco Casetti.
Films in the running for the Golden Lion include Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime,” Danny Boyle’s “Ink,” Casey Affleck’s “Company,” Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s “NAZA,” Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Look Back,” Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine,” Florian Zeller’s “Bunker” and more.
Throughout the ceremony, several took a moment to remember Oscar-winning British producer Jeremy Thomas, who died on Friday at the age of 77.
Gianluca Farinelli, head of Italy’s Bologna Film Archives and artistic director of Italy’s David di Donatello Awards, said: “He loved cinema; cinema made by humans and not by AI. He deeply loved our country. He produced masterpieces, also by great Italian directors.”
Thomas won a best picture Oscar for Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Last Emperor” in 1988, one of nine Academy Awards for the film. He would make five features across 17 years with the Italian director.
Added Italian actor and producer Riccardo Scamarcio, who won the Horizons best actor prize for “The Children of the “Monkey”: “Jeremy, a great man of cinema. I salute you, my friend!”
See the list of Venice award winners below, updating live.
COMPETITION
Golden Lion for Best Film:
Grand Jury Prize: “Possible Love,” Lee Chang-dong
Silver Lion for Best Director: Ilya Khrzhanovsky, “DAU”
Special Jury Prize: “NAZA,” Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
Best Screenplay: “Un Bon Petit Soldat” (“A Good Little Soldier”) — Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo, Olivier Gorce
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Mathilde Arcel, “Woman Unknown”
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: John Malkovich, “Wild Horse Nine”
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor: Malou Khebizi, “15/18 (A Place to Heal)”
Armani Beauty Audience Award: “Eu contez” (“I Matter”), Alina Șerban
Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Debut Film: “La maison du vent” (“House of the Wind”), Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
HORIZONS
Best Film: “Un détour par Diane” (“Diane in the Loop”), Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni
Best Director: Jaqueline Lentzou, “Mia Mera Sti Zoi Tis Tzo: Kefalaio Faidra” (“A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra”)
Special Jury Prize: “La maison du vent” (“House of the Wind”), Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
Best Actress: Laleh Marzban, “Moragheb” (“Falling House”)
Best Actor: Riccardo Scamarcio, “I figli della scimmia” (“The Children of the Monkey”)
Best Screenplay: Tommaso Landucci and Damiano Femfert, “I figli della scimmia” (“The Children of the Monkey”)
Best Short Film: “Quelques instants de bonheur” (“A Few Moments of Happiness”), Shaden Safieddine Tazi
VENICE CLASSICS
Best Restored Film: “La lunga notte del ’43” (“Long Night of 1943”), Florestano Vancini
VENICE IMMERSIVE
Grand Prize: “The Pigeon Ring,” Shixin Tao and Yuqi Zhang
Special Jury Prize: “Out of the Ashes,” Rory Mitchell and Nonny de la Peña
Achievement Prize: “Empire at Sea,” Peter Flaherty
