The 2025 edition of the Venice Film Festival was full of big swings: mind-melting sci-fi (Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia), big-budget Gothic epics (Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein), piercing, pitch-black comedies (Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice), wild 18th-century musicals (Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee), and a Gaza-set drama with the potential to change the world (Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab). As a result, this year’s jury, led by Alexander Payne and featuring the likes of Fernanda Torres, Mohammad Rasoulof, and Maura Delpero, had quite a task on their hands when it came to awarding the showcase’s top prizes.
The actual winners, though, were quite a surprise—including industry legend Jim Jarmusch coming from left field to scoop the Golden Lion for his intentionally quiet, three-part family comedy Father Mother Sister Brother.
Main Competition
Golden Lion: Father Mother Sister Brother, Jim Jarmusch
Grand Jury Prize: The Voice of Hind Rajab, Kaouther Ben Hania
Special Jury Prize: Sotto le nuvole, Gianfranco Rosi
Silver Lion for Best Director: Benny Safdie, The Smashing Machine
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Xin Zhilei, The Sun Rises on Us All
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Toni Servillo, La Grazia
Best Screenplay: À pied d’œuvre, Valérie Donzelli and Gilles Marchand
Marcello Mastroianni Award for emerging performer: Luna Wedler, Silent Friend
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: Werner Herzog and Kim Novak
Orizzonti
Best Film: En el Camino, David Pablos
Best Director: Anuparna Roy, Songs of Forgotten Trees
Special Jury Prize: Hara Watan, Akio Fujimoto
Best Actress: Benedetta Porcaroli, Il Rapimento di Arabella
Best Actor: Giacomo Covi, Un Anno di Scuola
Best Screenplay: Hiedra, Ana Cristina Barragán
Best Short Film: Without Kelly, Lovisa Sirén
Venice Spotlight
Armani Beauty Audience Award: Calle Málaga, Maryam Touzani
Lion of the Future
Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film: Short Summer, Nastia Korkia
Venice Classics
Best Documentary on Cinema: Mata Hari, Joe Beshenkovsky and James Smith
Best Restored Film: Bashu, the Little Stranger, Bahram Beyzaie
Venice Immersive
Venice Immersive Achievement Prize: The Long Goodbye by Victor Maes and Kate Voet
Special Jury Prize: Less Than 5gr of Saffron by Négar Motevalymeidanshah
Grand Prize: The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up by Singing Chen and Shuping Lee
