Venice 2026: Golden Lion to be decided on closing night
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival closes on Saturday 12 September 2026 with its top prize still to be decided.
The Golden Lion for Best Film, the festival's main award, was due to be presented on Saturday night along with the rest of the competition jury prizes, according to NPR. Variety reported that its winners list would update live as the ceremony unfolded.
That list went into the evening with blanks in every major slot. Golden Lion, Grand Jury Prize, Silver Lion for Best Director, Special Jury Prize, Best Screenplay, the two Volpi Cups for acting, the Marcello Mastroianni Award for an emerging performer, the audience award and the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a debut film were all still marked to be announced.
The decision rests with a competition jury led by actor and film-maker Maggie Gyllenhaal as president. She is joined by director Kaouther Ben Hania, director Johnnie To, director Shahrbanoo Sadat, director Xavier Giannoli, musician Daniel Blumberg and academic Francesco Casetti, Variety reported.
The field they had to choose from includes "Primetime" by Lance Oppenheim, "Ink" by Danny Boyle, "Company" by Casey Affleck, "Bucking Fastard" by Werner Herzog, "NAZA" by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, "Look Back" by Hirokazu Kore-eda, "Wild Horse Nine" by Martin McDonagh and "Bunker" by Florian Zeller.
One prize is already settled. "Empire at Sea" by Peter Flaherty has been named the Venice Immersive Achievement Prize recipient, for work made for immersive formats such as virtual reality.
Last year's winners set the bar for what follows. Jim Jarmusch took the Golden Lion for "Father Mother Sister Brother", Benny Safdie took the Silver Lion for Best Director for "The Smashing Machine", and Kaouther Ben Hania, now on this year's jury, took the Grand Jury Prize for "The Voice of Hind Rajab".
Venice has also used this edition to honour longer careers. George Clooney received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement during the opening ceremony on 2 September 2026, and Ellen Burstyn received the same honour on 7 September 2026, according to festival listings published by La Biennale di Venezia.
For fans, this means a short wait followed by a quick cascade of news. The Volpi Cups, which are Venice's best actress and best actor prizes, often shape awards-season conversation, while Best Screenplay and Best Director can point distributors and cinemas toward autumn releases.
The night does not end with the Lions. The world premiere screening of "Dio ride" by Giovanni Veronesi, the closing film, is scheduled for Saturday 12 September in the Palazzo del Cinema, after the awards ceremony.
