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Danish-Egyptian director May el-Toukhy's 'Woman Unknown' claimed the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, beating out favorites like 'The Brutalist' and 'Joker: Folie à Deux'. The film, which explores post-WWII societal dynamics through the lens of a young nanny, was praised for its representation of silenced voices. John Malkovich also received the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor for his performance in Martin McDonagh's 'The Wild Horse Nine'.
Mathilde Arcel and May el-Toukhy with the Coppa Volpi for Best Actress Award and with the Golden Lion for the Best Film Award for Woman Unknown during the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Saturday.
Photograph: Andreas Rentz/Getty ImagesMay el-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown, a European co-production set in the aftermath of the second World War, has, in a marginal upset, won The Golden Lion – the top prize – at the 83rd. The film, well reviewed on premiere, concerns a young nanny preparing for marriage into a wealthy Copenhagen family. El-Toukhy, a Danish-Egyptian film-maker, was hitherto best known for the 2019 drama Queen of Hearts.
“To me personally, Woman Unknown is about the female body as a battleground,” she said from the podium. “At the same time, the film tells the tale of women who are invisible, unseen and voiceless. ” The award from a jury headed by the actor Maggie Gyllenhaal feels pointed following complaints that only two films by women had been selected for the main competition. ’s Wild Horse Nine.
The latest work from the London-Irish film-maker and playwright, which co-stars Sam Rockwell in a tale set on Easter Island before the 1973 Chilean coup, is packed full of sharp dialogue and telling political asides.
“I am humbled to be chosen for this award, which has been given to so many wonderful actors over the past 83 iterations of the Venice Film Festival,” Malkovich said on a video relay. “Thank you to the jury for bestowing this honour upon me, and thank you, Martin McDonagh, for writing this lovely screenplay and for your superb directing of it, and for gifting me with this fantastic role.
”‘All I could think about was getting cocaine’: Mothers share their stories of addictionÓmós review: Faultless cooking already at two-star Michelin level. Get in before prices rise Malkovich, who is both fragile and sparky in the picture, is hereby installed as current favourite for the best actor Oscar, but will receive strong competition from Irish actor Andrew Scott in Simon Stone’s Elsinore, which premiered to raves at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado as the Venice event was playing out.
Mathilde Arcel won the Volpi Cup for best actress for her lead role in Woman Unknown.
“This is my first lead role in a in a movie, and it’s my first time at a film festival, and my first time to win a film award,” she said, happily dumbfounded. Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s NAZA, a documentary, co-produced by The Guardian, concerning the Israeli Defense Forces’ assault on Gaza, was many punters’ tip for the Golden Lion, but ended up with a Special Jury Prize.
Added late to the programme and screening towards the close of the event, the film, which is principally concerned with the mass killing of Palestinian civilians, was received with huge enthusiasm at its premiere on the Lido. Abraham and Szor, both from Israel, have already shared the best documentary feature Oscar for their work on No Other Land from 2024 and will surely compete for next year’s Academy Award.
Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham, winners of the Special Jury Prize for NAZA. Photograph: Tiziana Fabi/AFP via Getty Images “Thank you to the jury, and we are both very grateful to be here,” Abraham said.
“It’s honestly not very easy to stand here, thinking of all the people, the Israeli politicians, the journalists back home who are now attacking this film, denying it, without even seeing it. And so much is being done as to not look at reality. The reality is that, since this festival started, just over these 10 days, Israel killed six Palestinian children in Gaza.
” The Grand Jury Prize went to Lee Chang-dong for Possible Love, a hugely long pondering of current infelicities in the economy of South Korea.
“I made this film to ask what cinema can and should do in times like these,” the director said. “I take this award as a sign that you want me to keep asking these questions. ”was on the Lido to premiere her directorial debut, a touching vignette titled Paper Plane, but that film lost out in the Orizzonti short films competition to A Few Moments of Happiness by Moroccan-Lebanese film-maker Shaden Safieddine Tazi.
Founded in 1932, Venice International Film Festival is, after Cannes, easily the second most significant festival on the cinematic calendar. In recent years, the event has premiered a large number of Oscar contenders – including best picture winners such as The Shape of Water and Nomadland – but the 2026 edition saw fewer submissions from the American studios. Golden Lions for lifetime achievement were, this year, presented to veteran actors George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn during the festival.
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Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Woman Unknown May El-Toukhy John Malkovich The Wild Horse Nine Martin Mcdonagh Coppa Volpi Post-WWII Drama
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