Venice Film Festival 2026: Pessimism, Politics, and a Historic Win for May el-Toukhy
The 2026 Venice Film Festival wrapped up with May el-Toukhy's Woman Unknown taking home the Golden Lion, marking her as the eighth female director to achieve this honor. The narrative centers on Marie, a housemaid in Denmark after World War II, who conceals a past romance with a German soldier. Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love received accolades as the festival's finest film. NAZA, created by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, garnered a 25-minute standing ovation and the Special Jury Prize. Julia Loktev's My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile depicted the lives of Russian journalists in exile. Ilya Khrzhanovsky's DAU was awarded the Silver Lion for Best Director. The festival's atmosphere was marked by political crises and moral dilemmas, with numerous films addressing personal accountability in the context of global unrest.
Key facts
- May el-Toukhy's Woman Unknown won the Golden Lion, becoming the eighth woman-directed film to win the award.
- Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love was considered the best film at the festival.
- NAZA, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, won the Special Jury Prize and received a 25-minute standing ovation, the longest in Venice's history.
- Ilya Khrzhanovsky won the Silver Lion for Best Director for DAU and renounced his Russian citizenship after the invasion of Ukraine.
- The festival featured strong documentaries, including Alex Gibney's Musk and Barbara Kopple's Union Town.
- Geopolitical themes dominated, with films about Russia, Ukraine, and American imperialism.
- Robert Pattinson starred in Primetime as Chris Hansen, a film criticized for being shallow.
- Slavoj Žižek appeared in The Pervert's Guide to Utopia, advocating pessimism as a response to global crises.
Entities
Artists
- Henry Roberts
- May el-Toukhy
- Nanni Moretti
- Paolo Strippoli
- Lee Chang-dong
- Jeon Do-yeon
- Sul Kyung-gu
- Barbara Kopple
- Alex Gibney
- Elon Musk
- Yuval Abraham
- Rachel Szor
- Claude Lanzmann
- Jonathan Glazer
- Julia Loktev
- Ilya Khrzhanovsky
- Lev Landau
- Teodor Currentzis
- Alexandre Smia
- Kathryn Bigelow
- Martin McDonagh
- John Malkovich
- Sam Rockwell
- Robert Pattinson
- Chris Hansen
- Lance Oppenheim
- Sophie Fiennes
- Slavoj Žižek
- Mathilde Arcel
- Andrejs Strokins
- Ksenia Mironova
- Valeria Ratnikova
- Tony Revolori
- Krzysztof Kieślowski
- Stéphane Brizé
- Ann Sirot
- Raphaël Balboni
- Malou Khebizi
- Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
- Hirokazu Koreeda
- Danny Boyle
- Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Jake Gyllenhaal
- Christopher Nolan
- Kaouther Ben Hania
- Daniel Blumberg
- Francesco Casetti
- Xavier Giannoli
- Shahrbanoo Sadat
- Johnnie To
- Alberto Barbera
- Penélope Cruz
- Daniela Brogi
- Gabriele Gimmelli
- Anita Romanello
- Werner Herzog
- Paul Schrader
- Lars von Trier
- Thomas Vinterberg
Institutions
- Venice Film Festival
- Netflix
- Cabin Creek Films
- Teamsters
- IDF
- NATO
- Searchlight Pictures
- A24
- Phenomen Berlin
- Ukrainian ministry of foreign affairs
- Mostra del cinema di Venezia
- The Guardian
- Biennale di Venezia
- Academy Awards
- Mostra
- No Other Land
- Oscars
- Cannes Film Festival
- Berlinale
- Golden Lion
- Guardian
- Nordic Council Film Prize
- Dogma 25
- Dogme 95
Locations
- Venice
- Italy
- Denmark
- New York City
- United States
- Russia
- Ukraine
- Gaza
- Easter Island
- Rapa Nui
- Chile
- Pennsylvania
- Butler
- South Korea
- Cannes
- France
- Hong Kong
- Lido di Venezia
- Israel
- United Kingdom
- Berlin
- Germany