Venice 2026: Woman Unknown Wins the Golden Lion
May el-Toukhy's Woman Unknown took the Golden Lion at Venice. The full list of winners, the NAZA jury prize and the DAU controversy.
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival ended on Sept. 12 with the Golden Lion going to Woman Unknown (Kvinde Ukendt), directed by May el-Toukhy, a co-production of Denmark, Sweden and Latvia. For US audiences, the more useful question is what these awards signal about the films that will reach theaters and awards season in the coming months. We cannot say yet which will get US distribution, because none of our sources announced it.
The main prizes
The Venezia 83 jury, chaired by Maggie Gyllenhaal, viewed 21 films in competition. The Biennale's official list:
Golden Lion for Best Film: Woman Unknown, by May el-Toukhy.
Silver Lion, Grand Jury Prize: Possible Love (Ga-neung-han sa-rang), by Lee Chang-dong of South Korea.
Silver Lion for Best Director: Ilya Khrzhanovsky for DAU, a Germany, France and Sweden production.
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Mathilde Arcel, for Woman Unknown.
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: John Malkovich, for Wild Horse Nine, directed by Martin McDonagh.
Best Screenplay: Stephane Brize, Coralie Amedeo and Olivier Gorce for A Good Little Soldier (Un bon petit soldat).
Special Jury Prize: NAZA, by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, a UK production.
Marcello Mastroianni Award for a young actor or actress: Malou Khebizi, for 15/18 (A Place to Heal), by Cedric Kahn.
A film about the unknown women of history
Woman Unknown is set just after Danish liberation from Nazi occupation. The Guardian describes the story of Marie (Arcel), a young housemaid about to marry her widowed employer, who fears he will find out a shameful secret: during the war she had an intimate relationship with a German soldier. The Guardian's film critic likened the film to Hitchcock's Rebecca in his review, calling it "elegantly appointed."
El-Toukhy is described by the Guardian as the eighth female director to win the Golden Lion, and Woman Unknown was the only competition film directed solely by a woman. In her speech she said the film had been "incredibly challenging to make financially, logistically, emotionally," and that she was driven by "the urgent need to illuminate the unknown women of our common history, to make them known."
Arcel's Volpi Cup was a surprise to some critics, because Venice usually does not give more than one prize to a film. Gyllenhaal said the jury made an exception because its vote for Arcel was unanimous. She said Arcel "is going to blow our socks off."
NAZA and the jury prize
The documentary NAZA, which won the Special Jury Prize, is based on testimony from 24 Israeli military insiders who are interviewed anonymously, according to the Guardian, which produced the film. The title comes from an acronym the film says the intelligence service used for the number of civilians it expects to die in an airstrike. In his speech, Abraham criticized Israeli politicians and journalists who he said were attacking the film "without even seeing it." The Guardian reports that the day after the premiere the Israeli military "categorically denied" the allegations made in the film. We have not independently verified the film's claims or the military's denial, and we report both as stated by the Guardian.
DAU and the controversy
Khrzhanovsky's Silver Lion for DAU, a biopic of the Nobel prize-winning physicist Lev Landau, came with a controversy. The Guardian says the Ukrainian government criticized the film's inclusion before the festival because of lead actor Teodor Currentzis's refusal to condemn the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and because the film had received funding from a Russian businessman later sanctioned by the United States and Ukraine. The Guardian also notes that DAU was filmed in Kharkiv between 2008 and 2011, before the conflict. At a press conference Khrzhanovsky said he wished for "peace and success for the Ukrainian government."
Other sections
In Orizzonti, the Best Film award went to Diane in the Loop (Un detour par Diane) by Ann Sirot and Raphael Balboni, and Best Director to Jacqueline Lentzou. The Lion of the Future for a debut film, and the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize, went to House of the Wind (La maison du vent) by Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu, a co-production of Cameroon, France, Belgium, Benin, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Armani Beauty Audience Award went to I Matter (Eu contez) by Alina Serban.
What we could not confirm
We could not confirm US release plans or festival-circuit schedules for any of the winners. Reuters also covered the ceremony, but its full text was not accessible to us, so we relied on the Biennale's list and the Guardian.
FAQ
What won the Golden Lion in 2026?
Woman Unknown (Kvinde Ukendt), directed by May el-Toukhy.
Who chaired the jury?
Maggie Gyllenhaal chaired the Venezia 83 jury.
Who won Best Actor?
John Malkovich, for Wild Horse Nine, directed by Martin McDonagh.
What did NAZA win?
The Special Jury Prize.
Sources
*Cover photo: Ondine Goat, Wikimedia Commons, *[*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:May_el-Toukhy_with_the_Golden_Lion_for_"Woman_Unknown"_at_Venice_Film_Festival_83.jpg*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:May_el-Toukhy_with_the_Golden_Lion_for_"Woman_Unknown"_at_Venice_Film_Festival_83.jpg)* (CC BY-SA 4.0).*