The winners of the 82nd Venice Film Festival were announced on Saturday, September 6th. As expected, critics and attendees were underwhelmed by some of the jury’s choices in the main competition, while others were outraged that some of the brightest films at the Lido were completely shut out—particularly Park Chan-wook’s widely acclaimed No Other Choice.
On Film Twitter, there had been speculation that jury president Alexander Payne was preparing some curveballs. Payne had already sparked controversy at the start of the festival by refusing to comment on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which infuriated many critics and spectators. Rumors swirled that the jury was divided over the Golden Lion: some reportedly pushed hard for Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab, which received an extraordinary 25-minute standing ovation—the longest in festival history. At one point, whispers even claimed juror Fernanda Torres had walked out of Venice before the awards ceremony. In the end, she was there, so either the rumors were unfounded or things were patched up in time for the final night.
As I predicted, Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother took the Golden Lion. The film was warmly received by critics, met with polite respect from audiences, but I suspected Payne and his jury would embrace Jarmusch’s minimalist, poetic style. The Voice of Hind Rajab had to settle for the Grand Jury Prize, while Gianfranco Rosi’s Below the Clouds won the Silver Lion (Joseph’s pick for the top prize, and we both suspected it wouldn’t go home empty-handed). Another expected result was Toni Servillo’s Best Actor win for La Grazia. The role of a fictional Italian president grappling with moral and legal dilemmas at the end of his career was practically designed as a showcase for him.
One of the biggest surprises was Amanda Seyfried and The Testament of Ann Lee walking away with nothing. Critics raved, but audiences were divided—some entranced by its strange, quasi-musical take on Shaker founder Ann Lee, others left cold and confused. The jury seems to have sided with the latter. That total shutout could damage its awards prospects: no prize means less urgency for a distributor to pick it up, unlike last year when Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist was snapped up right after Venice. If it does get acquired, Seyfried is still a strong Best Actress contender, but the film’s polarizing reception may limit its chances elsewhere. The Coppa Volpi for Best Actress went instead to Xin Zhilei for The Sun Rises on Us All.
Another surprise: Benny Safdie won Best Director for The Smashing Machine. The win positions the film as a serious Oscar contender, bolstered by Dwayne Johnson’s awards narrative, strong box office prospects, and solid reviews—all of which seem to point to Safdie’s solo debut being a very strong possibility for Best Picture consideration.
Other major titles that were completely blanked: Yorgos Lanthimos’s beloved Bugonia, Guillermo del Toro’s underwhelming Frankenstein, Ildikó Enyedi’s championed Silent Friend, Noah Baumbach’s mixed Jay Kelly, and Kathryn Bigelow’s universally praised A House of Dynamite. Full list of winners below:
- Golden Lion: Father Mother Sister Brother by Jim Jarmusch[3]
- Grand Jury Prize: The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania
- Special Jury Prize: Below the Clouds by Gianfranco Rosi
- Silver Lion: Benny Safdie for The Smashing Machine
- Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Xin Zhilei for The Sun Rises on Us All
- Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Toni Servillo for La Grazia
- Best Screenplay: Valérie Donzelli and Gilles Marchand for At Work
- Marcello Mastroianni Award: Luna Wedler for Silent Friend