The 2026 Venice Film Festival Winners: Woman Unknown Wins the Golden Lion
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival wrapped up its closing ceremony on the Lido this past weekend, and the Golden Lion went to a film that arrived under an unusual spotlight. Danish-Egyptian director May el-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown took the top prize just days after jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal publicly called out the festival’s lack of female directors, and Gyllenhaal was quick to make clear the two things were not connected. John Malkovich also picked up the first major festival trophy of his career, more than three decades after his first Oscar nomination. Here is the full list of winners and the story behind the festival’s biggest talking point.
The Winners at a Glance
- Golden Lion (Best Film): Woman Unknown, directed by May el-Toukhy
- Silver Lion (Grand Jury Prize): Possible Love, directed by Lee Chang-dong
- Silver Lion (Best Director): Ilya Khrzhanovsky, DAU
- Volpi Cup (Best Actor): John Malkovich, Wild Horse Nine
- Volpi Cup (Best Actress): Mathilde Arcel, Woman Unknown
- Best Screenplay: Stephane Brize, Coralie Amedeo and Olivier Gorce, A Good Little Soldier
- Special Jury Prize: Naza, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
- Marcello Mastroianni Award: Malou Khebizi, A Place to Heal
- Lion of the Future (Best Debut Film): House of the Wind, directed by Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
- Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: Ellen Burstyn and George Clooney
Woman Unknown Takes the Top Prize
Woman Unknown is set over five days in Copenhagen in May 1945, right after Denmark’s liberation, and follows a young woman named Marie (Mathilde Arcel) who is preparing to marry her wealthy employer while hiding a wartime relationship with a German soldier. The film digs into a chapter of postwar history that rarely makes it to screen, the public shaming and violence inflicted on Danish women accused of fraternizing with the occupiers. El-Toukhy has described the film as being about the female body treated as a battleground, and Arcel’s performance in the title role earned her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress on the same night.
El-Toukhy was one of only two female directors in this year’s main competition, and was the only one when Venice first announced its lineup back in July. Reflecting on that gap, she said, “I would have loved to have more female colleagues in competition.”
Mathilde Arcel’s performance in Woman Unknown earned her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress alongside the film’s Golden Lion win
Not Just a Statement, Says Jury Chief Gyllenhaal
El-Toukhy’s win carried extra weight because of what happened earlier in the festival. At her opening press conference, Gyllenhaal called the shortage of women directors in competition a systemic problem, which set up an awkward question once the Golden Lion went to the very film everyone had been talking about. Gyllenhaal pushed back on the idea that the jury was making a point, saying the film won its prize “like a laser beam just for the well-made movie that it is.”
John Malkovich Finally Gets His Trophy
John Malkovich picked up the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for Wild Horse Nine, Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy about two CIA officers, played by Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, sent to Easter Island shortly before Chile’s 1973 coup. It is the first major festival award of Malkovich’s career, despite two previous Oscar nominations for Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire. Accepting the honor, he said, “I am humbled to be chosen for this award.” The win has already put Wild Horse Nine, also starring Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, and Parker Posey, near the front of the early Oscar conversation.
John Malkovich’s role in Wild Horse Nine earned him the first major festival acting award of his career
Elsewhere at the festival, South Korean director Lee Chang-dong picked up the Grand Jury Prize for Possible Love, while Ilya Khrzhanovsky won Best Director for his long-running DAU project. Yuval Abraham, who previously won an Oscar for co-directing the documentary No Other Land, shared the Special Jury Prize with Rachel Szor for Naza. Venice also handed out honorary Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement to Ellen Burstyn and George Clooney, capping off a festival that ran from September 2 to 12 on the Lido.
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Picture Source: TrustNordisk, Searchlight Pictures
