The Unknown Danish Woman: The Only Film Directed by a Woman to Win the Golden Lion at Venice 1983

After eleven days of screenings, with twenty-one films in competition, the 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival has come to a close. The overall level was certainly good, as one of the most noble and balanced palmares of recent years, at least that is how it seems to us. Perhaps not masterpieces, but many films of excellent quality that confirm a nice variety of offerings. There was a great deal of talk about the documentary, heartrending yet also very well made from a cinematic standpoint, NAZA, which earned an important recognition, while the five Italian entries did not win any prize. A double recognition, instead, fully deserved, in the Horizons section for the Italian debut feature I figli della scimmia by Tommaso Landucci, which took home the prize for the screenplay and the prize for best actor for an outstanding Riccardo Scamarcio.

The only film directed by a woman thus won the Golden Lion, Woman Unknown, repeating with an equally deserved recognition for the best actress. An important and warranted decision that we hope will also help recalibrate the approach to selections in the coming years. The jury was composed of seven very diverse personalities, making it easy to imagine tight debates among the guardians of cinema, so to speak, the “orthodox” camp, such as Yale professor Francesco Casetti, evidently not enthusiastic about the Italian contingent, or at least not able to bring home at least one recognition, but who will probably have greatly appreciated the magniloquent fresco of DAU, as the palmares confirms. Malkovich with this Coppa Volpi seems only to begin a year that will bring him many more satisfactions, given the extraordinary performance in Martin McDonagh’s film, Wild Horse Nine.

Venice Film Festival 2026: All the Awards of the 83rd International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art

Here is the full list of all the awards of the Venice Festival 2026, awarded by the International Jury chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal and composed of: the Tunisian director and screenwriter Kaouther Ben Hania, the British composer and artist Daniel Blumberg, the Italian university professor Francesco Casetti, the French director and screenwriter Xavier Giannoli, the Afghan director and screenwriter Shahrbanoo Sadat, the Hong Kong-born director and producer Johnnie To.

Golden Lion for Best Film:
Woman Unknown by May el-Toukhy

Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize:
Possible Love by Lee Chang-dong

Silver Lion for Best Direction:
Ilya Khrzhanovsky for DAU

Special Jury Prize:
Naza by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor

Prize for Best Screenplay:
Stephane Brizè, Coralie Amedeo and Olivier Gorce for Un bon petit soldat

Volpi Cup for Best Actress:
Mathilde Arcel for Woman Unknown

Volpi Cup for Best Actor:
John Malkovich for Wild Horse Nine

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Actor:
Malou Khebizi for 15/18

Leone del Futuro, Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Feature:
La maison du vent by Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu

Armani Beauty Audience Award:
Eu contez by Alina Şerban – Venice Spotlight

Horizons Award for Best Film:
Un détour par Diane by