The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee, as the successor to the earlier Gran Premio Internazionale di Venezia (Grand International Prize of Venice), awarded in 1947 and 1948. The prize was introduced as the Golden Golden Lion of Saint Mark, which was one of the best known symbols of the ancient Republic of Venice. In 1954, the prize was permanently named the Golden Lion.
The Golden Lion is widely regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1971, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement was introduced, an honorary prize for people who have made an important contribution to cinema.
History
Background From 1934 until 1942, the highest award of the festival was the Coppa Mussolini for Best Italian Film and Best Foreign Film. Even though other awards were attributed to Nazi propaganda films, such as Jud Süß (Suss, the Jew), an antisemitic production made at the behest of Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, won the festival's Golden Crown award in 1940.
After the end of the WWII during the reestablishment of the festival, The Southerner, directed by Jean Renoir, won the main prize at the 1946 edition. In 1947 and 1948, the equivalent prize for the Golden Lion was the Gran Premio Internazionale di Venezia (Grand International Prize of Venice), awarded to Karel Steklý's The Strike in 1947 and Laurence Olivier's Hamlet in 1948. Golden Lions The first Golden Lion was awarded in 1949. Previously, the equivalent prize was the Gran Premio Internazionale di Venezia (Grand International Prize of Venice), awarded in 1947 and 1948. The prize was introduced in 1949 as the Golden Golden Lion of Saint Mark, which was one of the best known symbols of the ancient Republic of Venice.No Golden Lions were awarded between 1969 and 1979. According to the Biennale's official website, the hiatus was a result of the 1968 Lion being given to the radically experimental Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos; the website says that the awards "still had a statute dating back to the fascist era and could not side-step the general political climate. Sixty-eight produced a dramatic fracture with the past".
More French films have been awarded the Golden Lion, more than to any other nation. However, there is considerable geographical diversity in the winners. American recipients include John Cassavetes and Robert Altman (tied), Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain was the first winning U.S. film not to tie), Darren Aronofsky, Sofia Coppola, Todd Phillips, Chloé Zhao, Laura Poitras, and Jim Jarmusch. Prior to 1980, only three of 21 winners were of non-European origin. Since the 1980s, the Golden Lion has been presented to a number of Asian filmmakers, particularly in comparison to the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or.
Ang Lee won the Golden Lion twice within three years in the 2000s, once for an American film and once for a Chinese-language film. Zhang Yimou has also won twice. Other Asians to win the Golden Lion since 1980 include Jia Zhangke, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang, Trần Anh Hùng, Takeshi Kitano, Kim Ki-duk, Jafar Panahi, Mira Nair, and Lav Diaz. Russian filmmakers have won the Golden Lion several times, including since the end of the USSR.
To date, 33 of the 54 winners have been European men, including Soviet/Russian winners. Since 1949, seven women have won the Golden Lion for directing: Margarethe von Trotta, Agnès Varda, Mira Nair, Sofia Coppola, Chloé Zhao, Audrey Diwan, and Laura Poitras. In 1938, German director Leni Riefenstahl won the Festival when its highest award was the Coppa Mussolini. In 2019, Joker became the first movie based on original comic book characters to win the prize.
From 2026, the non-English language winners will also be automatically eligible for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
The prize is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival, and is widely regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes.
Winners These films received the Golden Lions or the major awards of the Venice Film Festival:
1940s Year Title Director Production Country 1949 France
1950s Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country 1950 France 1951 Japan 1952 France 1953 No award given, the jury was unable to decide the winner and the prize was declared void 1954 United Kingdom 1955 Denmark 1956 No award given, the jury was unable to decide the winner and the prize was declared void 1957 অপরাজিত India 1958 Japan 1959 France, Italy
1960s Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country 1960 André Cayatte France 1961 1962 Italy Soviet Union 1963 Italy 1964 1965 1966 Algeria, Italy 1967 France 1968 West Germany 1969 No award given, this edition of the festival was not competitive
1970s Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country Ref. 1970 No award given, the editions of the festival were not competitive 1971 1972 1979
1980s Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country 1980 Canada, France United States 1981 West Germany 1982 1983 France 1984 Poland 1985 France 1986 1987 France, West Germany 1988 Italy, France 1989 Taiwan
1990s Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country 1990 United Kingdom, United States 1991 Soviet Union 1992 China 1993 United States France, Poland 1994 Macedonia Taiwan 1995 Vietnam, France 1996 Ireland, United Kingdom 1997 Japan 1998 Italy 1999 China
2000s Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country 2000 Iran 2001 India 2002 Ireland, United Kingdom 2003 Russia 2004 United Kingdom 2005 United States 2006 China 2007 Taiwan, China, United States 2008 United States 2009 לבנון Israel
2010s Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country 2010 § United States 2011 § Фауст Russia 2012 피에타 South Korea 2013 Italy 2014 En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron Sweden 2015 Venezuela 2016 Philippines 2017 United States, Mexico 2018 Mexico, United States 2019 United States
2020s Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country 2020 United States 2021 § France 2022 United States 2023 Ireland, United Kingdom, United States 2024 Spain 2025 Father Mother Sister Brother Jim Jarmusch United States, Ireland, France2026Woman UnknownKvinde, ukendtMay el-ToukhyDenmark, Sweden, Latvia Notes § Denotes unanimous win
Multiple winners Four directors have won the award twice: André Cayatte (1950 & 1960) Louis Malle (1980 & 1987) Zhang Yimou (1992 & 1999) Ang Lee (2005 & 2007)
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement is awarded to directors, actors, and other personalities from the world of cinema who have distinguished themselves in the art. It joins the Golden Lion, the festival's highest prize, which is instead awarded to a film in competition. See also
Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize (2nd Place) Palme d'Or, the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival Golden Bear, the highest prize awarded at the Berlin Film Festival
Notes
References
External links
La Biennale di Venezia official website / Cinema history