Jim Jarmusch wins Venice's Golden Lion for Father Mother Sister Brother

by Vittoria Scarpa

06/09/2025 - VENICE 2025: The Voice of Hind Rajab has scooped the Grand Jury Prize, Below the Clouds the Special Jury Prize and Toni Servillo the Volpi Cup

Jim Jarmusch wins Venice's Golden Lion for Father Mother Sister Brother

There’s been a surprise outcome following the awards ceremony of the 82nd Venice Film Festival, held this evening on the Lido. The Golden Lion for Best Film went to Father Mother Sister Brother [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jim Jarmusch
film profile] by Jim Jarmusch, thus proving all of the previous predictions wrong. At an edition marked by initiatives, calls to action and demonstrations of solidarity for the Palestinian people (see the news), the jury chaired by the USA’s Alexander Payne, and made up of Stéphane Brizé, Maura Delpero, Cristian Mungiu, Mohammad Rasoulof, Fernanda Torres and Zhao Tao, opted to hand the Mostra’s top prize to the film by the US director, which revolves around the family along with all of its bizarre dynamics.

The undisputed moral victor of this edition, The Voice of Hind Rajab [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile] by Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania, which deeply moved audience members and critics alike on the Lido and received a standing ovation that lasted more than 20 minutes after its official premiere in the Sala Grande, picked up the second-most-important prize, the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize. The film reconstructs the final, desperate call made by a six-year-old girl trapped in a car struck by the Israeli army in Gaza. "The voice of Hind is the voice of Gaza itself", commented the director with emotion.

Other unexpected winners included the film that snagged the Best Director Award, The Smashing Machine by Benny Safdie, a US movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as wrestler and mixed-martial-arts legend Mark Kerr; and the winner of the Special Jury Prize, Gianfranco Rosi’s Below the Clouds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gianfranco Rosi
film profile], a black-and-white documentary dedicated to Naples. Awarded Best Screenplay was At Work [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valérie Donzelli
film profile] by Valérie Donzelli, one of the most popular titles this year, which is a deep dive into the vocation of an author who gives up everything to follow his passion (with a script co-written by Gilles Marchand).

As for the acting categories, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress went to China’s Xin Zhilei for The Sun Rises on Us All. Meanwhile, the equivalent gong for Best Actor went to Toni Servillo, who played the president of the republic for Paolo Sorrentino in La grazia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the opening film of the 82nd edition of the gathering. The actor, who was thrilled to receive the statuette from Fernanda Torres (“an actress who bewitched me this year”), expressed “my utter admiration for those who have decided to bravely set sail for Palestine to bring a shred of humanity to a place where human dignity is reviled on a daily basis”. The Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Talent was bestowed upon Luna Wedler for Silent Friend [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ildikó Enyedi
film profile] by Hungarian helmer Ildiko Enyedi, the last title presented in competition, which was actually among the favourites.

The Armani Beauty Audience Award in the Venezia Spotlight section was handed to Calle Málaga [+see also:
film review
interview: Maryam Touzani
film profile] by Maryam Touzani, starring Carmen Maura as a 79-year-old whose life is turned upside down when her daughter arrives from Madrid in order to sell the Tangier flat she has always lived in.

On the other hand, the international jury for the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film, chaired by Scottish director Charlotte Wells, chose to grant its prize to Short Summer [+see also:
film review
interview: Nastia Korkia
film profile] by director of Russian heritage Nastia Korkia (in competition in the Giornate degli Autori), which in her acceptance speech reminded viewers of the 1,291 days since the invasion of Ukraine.

As for Orizzonti, the jury, chaired by France’s Julia Ducournau, handed the Award for Best Film to On the Road by David Pablos, a queer story set in the hostile and violent milieu of Mexican lorry drivers. The Best Director Award was bestowed upon Anuparna Roy for the Indian title Songs of Forgotten Trees, about the friendship between two very distant women, while the Orizzonti Special Jury Prize was granted to Lost Land [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a feature by Japanese director Akio Fujimoto that follows two displaced Rohingya children as they try to flee from Bangladesh to Malaysia.

The best actress in the Orizzonti section was deemed to be Benedetta Porcaroli in The Kidnapping of Arabella [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carolina Cavalli
film profile], the eccentric dramedy by Carolina Cavalli; Porcaroli, performing in her second film directed by Cavalli (after Amanda [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benedetta Porcaroli
film profile], which screened at Venice in 2022), thanked the director for having given her “the opportunity to get to know characters that seem to be flawed or abandoned, but then are revealed to be human, fragile and brimming with compassion”. The Best Actor Award was presented to Giacomo Covi for his role in A Year of School [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Samani
film profile] by Laura Samani. Last but not least, Ecuador’s Ana Cristina Barragán took home the Best Screenplay Award for The Ivy [+see also:
film review
interview: Ana Cristina Barragán
film profile].

Here is the full list of award winners:

Competition

Golden Lion for Best Film
Father Mother Sister Brother [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jim Jarmusch
film profile] - Jim Jarmusch (USA/France/Italy/Germany/Ireland)

Silver Lion - Grand Jury Prize
The Voice of Hind Rajab [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile] - Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia/France)

Silver Lion - Award for Best Director
Benny Safdie - The Smashing Machine (USA)

Special Jury Prize
Below the Clouds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gianfranco Rosi
film profile] - Gianfranco Rosi (Italy/France)

Volpi Cup for Best Actress
Xin Zhilei - The Sun Rises on Us All (China)

Volpi Cup for Best Actor
Toni Servillo - La Grazia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Italy)

Award for Best Screenplay
Valérie Donzelli, Gilles Marchand - At Work [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valérie Donzelli
film profile] (France)

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Talent
Luna Wedler - Silent Friend [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ildikó Enyedi
film profile] (Germany/France/Hungary)

Orizzonti

Best Film
On the Road - David Pablos (Mexico)

Best Director
Anuparna Roy - Songs of Forgotten Trees (India)

Special Jury Prize
Lost Land [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Akio Fujimoto (Japan/France/Malaysia/Germany)

Best Actress
Benedetta Porcaroli - The Kidnapping of Arabella [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carolina Cavalli
film profile] (Italy)

Best Actor
Giacomo Covi - A Year of School [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Samani
film profile] (Italy/France)

Best Screenplay
Ana Cristina Barragán - The Ivy [+see also:
film review
interview: Ana Cristina Barragán
film profile] (Ecuador/Mexico/France/Spain)

Best Short Film
Without Kelly - Lovisa Sirén (Sweden)

Venezia Spotlight

Audience Award
Calle Málaga [+see also:
film review
interview: Maryam Touzani
film profile] - Maryam Touzani (Morocco/France/Spain/Germany/Belgium)

Venice Classics

Best Documentary on Cinema
Mata Hari - Joe Beshenkovsky, James A. Smith (USA)

Best Restored Film
Bashu, the Little Stranger - Bahram Beyzaie (Iran) (1989)

Venice Immersive

Grand Prize
The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up - Singing Chen (Taiwan/Germany)

Special Jury Prize
Less Than 5gr of Saffron - Négar Motevalymeidanshah (France)

Achievement Prize
A Long Goodbye - Kate Voet, Victor Maes (Belgium/Luxembourg/Netherlands)

Non-section-specific award

Lion of the Future - "Luigi de Laurentiis" Award for a Debut Film
Short Summer [+see also:
film review
interview: Nastia Korkia
film profile] - Nastia Korkia (Germany/France/Serbia)