Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival was organized for the first time in 1932 as the Esposizione d’Arte Cinematografica (Exhibition of Cinematographic Arts) — part of that year's Venice Biennale, which was the second held under the Italian faschist government. through the collaboration of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, President of the Biennale, sculptor Antonio Maraini and Luciano De Feo. The competition aspect was added in 1934, and the festival became an annual event in 1935, and it has gone through 81 iterations. Emerging and well-known talent gather on the red carpet at the Lido di Venezia for the premieres of prestigious films.
Each Venice Film Festival has awarded a Golden Lion (Leone d'Oro) for Best Film since 1934. The Leone d'Oro replaced the Coppa Mussolini after World War II as the award named for the dictator had been part of the festival since 1934. A Silver Lion has also been given out for best direction and runners-up films in competition for the Golden Lion. Brokeback Mountain won the Leone d'Argento in 2005. Other films to win that prize included Rashomon (195) and Last Year at Marienbad (1961). Past winners include Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere (2010), Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017), Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA(2018), Todd Phillips’ Joker (2020), Chloe Zhao’s Nomad Land(2020) and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things (2023). The Coppa Volpi (named for founder Giuseppe Volpi) Award goes to an actor and actress each year and has done so since 1935. Past recipients include Willem Dafoe for At Eternity’s Gate and Olvia Colman in The Favourite in 2018, Penélope Cruz in Madres Paralelas and John Arcilla in On the Job: The Missing 8 in 2021, Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin and Cate Blanchett in TÁR in 2022. In 2023, the awards went to Cailee Spaeny for her work in Priscilla and to Peter Sarsgaard for his role in Memory.
The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement went to actress Sigourney Weaver and directorPeter Weir in 2024, Catherine Deneuve and Paul Schrader in 2022, Roberto Benigni and Jamie Lee Curtis in 2021 and Tilda Swinton and Ann Hui in 2020.
- Event:
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Venice Film Festival
- Dates
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Late Summer - August to September (11 Days)
- Year Established:
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1932