The Volpi Cup for Best Actress is an award presented by the Venice Film Festival. It is given by the festival jury in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance from the films in the competition slate. It is named in honor of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the founder of the festival.
Danish actress Mathilde Arcel was the most recent winner for her performance in Woman Unknown (2026), at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.
History The first ceremony was held in 1932, when Helen Hayes received the Volpi Cup for the title role in The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)—this was the only time that the award was chosen by public voting. From 1942 to 1945, the festival was suspended because of World War II. The student protests in May 1968 opened a period of institutional changes, with no prizes were awarded from 1969 to 1979.
The name of the award has changed several times. In 1934, Katharine Hepburn was honored with the Great Gold Medal of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment for the Best Actress for her role in Little Women. It was renamed the Volpi Cup for Best Actress the following year. The awards given from 1947 to 1949 were named the International Award for the Best Actress.
The Best Actress Award resumed in 1983. That year, Darling Légitimus became the first black woman to receive the award, for her work in Sugar Cane Alley. In 1992, Ingrid Bergman was honored posthumously for her performance in Europe '51, which was denied by the jury in 1952 because her voice was dubbed from Swedish into Italian (by Lydia Simoneschi). The award can be for leading or supporting roles with the exception of the period, when the additional award for Best Supporting Actress was given from 1993 to 1995. At the age of four, Victoire Thivisol became the youngest recipient for the title role in Ponette in 1996.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 68 actresses. Only four of them have won more than once: Shirley MacLaine, Isabelle Huppert, Valeria Golino and Cate Blanchett, who have each won the cup twice. Bette Davis is the only actress to win the award for her roles in two different films on the same competition; she won in 1937 for her contribution in Marked Woman and Kid Galahad. In 1988, the award was shared by two actresses in different films: Huppert in Story of Women and MacLaine in Madame Sousatzka. There have been two films, She's Been Away in 1989 and La Cérémonie in 1995, that garnered multiple winners in one year.
Winners
+ Table key Indicates the Best Supporting Actress winner
1930s Year Actress Role(s) English Title Original Title 1932 1934 1935 1936 Annabella 1937 1938
1940s Year Actress Role(s) English Title Original Title 1941 Annelie 1942 Die goldene Stadt 1947 L'onorevole Angelina 1948 Ophelia 1949
1950s Year Actress Role(s) English Title Original Title 1950 1951 1952 Europa '51 1953 1956 1957 Malva Мальва 1958 1959 À double tour
1960s Year Actress Role(s) English Title Original Title 1960 1961 Tu ne tueras point 1962 Thérèse Desqueyroux 1963 Muriel ou le Temps d'un retour 1964 Louise Att Älska 1965 Trois chambres à Manhattan 1966 Altynai Первый учитель 1967 Lula 1968 Emilia
1980s Year Actress Role(s) English Title Original Title 1981 Jutta Lampe Marianne Marianne and Juliane Die bleierne Zeit Barbara Sukowa Juliane 1983 M'Man-Tine La Rue Cases-Nègres 1984 Louise Les nuits de la pleine lune 1985 Not assigned 1986 Storia d'amore 1987 Ok-nyo 씨받이 1988 Une affaire de femmes 1989
1990s Year Actress Role(s) English Title Original Title 1990 Lucrecia La luna en el espejo 1991 1992 秋菊打官司 1993 Trois couleurs: Bleu Mother Dove siete? Io sono qui 1994 Maria Três Irmãos Vanessa Redgrave 1995 Sophie Jeanne Andreina Romanzo di un giovane povero 1996 Ponette 1997 Marcy 1998 1999 Her
2000s Year Actress Role(s) English Title Original Title 2000 B.G. 2001 Maria Luce dei miei occhi 2002 2003 2004 2005 Sabina La bestia nel cuore 2006 2007 2008 Anne-Marie L'Autre 2009 Sonia La doppia ora
2010s Year Actress Role(s) English Title Original Title 2010 Marina 2011 桃姐 2012 למלא את החלל 2013 Via Castellana Bandiera 2014 Mina 2015 Anna 2016 2017 Hannah 2018 Olivia Colman 2019
2020s Year Actress Role(s) English Title Original Title 2020 2021 Madres paralelas 2022 2023 2024 2025 Xin Zhilei Meiyun The Sun Rises on Us All 日掛中天 2026Mathilde ArcelMarieWoman UnknownKvinde, ukendt
Multiple winners The following individuals have received multiple Best Actress awards:
Number of Wins Actress Nationality Films 2 Shirley MacLaine United States The Apartment (1960), Madame Sousatzka (1988) Isabelle Huppert France Story of Women (1988), La Cérémonie (1995) Valeria Golino Italy A Tale of Love (1986), Per amor vostro (2015) Cate Blanchett Australia I'm Not There (2007), Tár (2022)
See also The following individuals have also received Best Actress award(s) at Cannes or Berlin Film Festival.
Winning Year at Venice Actress Nationality Festival Year English Title 1934 United States Cannes 1962 Long Day's Journey into Night 1937 United States Cannes 1951 All About Eve 1947 Italy Berlin 1958 Wild Is the Wind 1958 Italy Cannes 1961 Two Women 19601988 United States Berlin 1959 Ask Any Girl 1971 Desperate Characters 1981 Germany Cannes 1986 Rosa Luxemburg 19881995 France Cannes 1978 Violette Nozière 2001 The Piano Teacher 1993 France Berlin 1997 The English Patient Cannes 2010 Certified Copy 1994 England Cannes 1966 Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment 1969 Isadora 2000 Australia Berlin 2025 If I Had Legs I'd Kick You 2002 United States Berlin 2003 The Hours Cannes 2014 Maps to the Stars 2006 England Cannes 1984 Cal 1995 The Madness of King George 2017 England Berlin 2015 45 Years 2021 Spain Cannes 2006 Volver 2024 Australia Berlin 2003 The Hours
Notes
References
External links Volpi Cup winners since 1935 at Venice Biennale