About the Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival (Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica) is the world’s oldest film festival, founded in 1932 as part of the Venice Biennale. Held each August–September on the Lido di Venezia, it is the first of the three major European film festivals (alongside Cannes and Berlin).
The Golden Lion (Leone d’Oro) for Best Film is the festival’s highest honour, awarded by an international jury. Supporting prizes include the Silver Lion for Best Director and Grand Jury Prize, the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and Best Actress, and the Special Jury Prize.
The festival was not held in 1943–1945 (World War II). Competitive awards were suspended from 1969 to 1979 during a period of political controversy; the Golden Lion was restored in 1980.
No competitive awards were presented from 1969 to 1979. The festival screened films without a jury or prizes during this period due to political controversy within the Italian film industry and broader cultural disputes.
| Year | Golden Lion | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed | Alexander Kluge |
| 1967 | Belle de Jour | Luis Buñuel |
| 1966 | The Battle of Algiers | Gillo Pontecorvo |
| 1965 | Sandra | Luchino Visconti |
| 1964 | Red Desert | Michelangelo Antonioni |
| 1963 | Hands Over the City | Francesco Rosi |
| 1962 | Family Diary | Valerio Zurlini |
| 1961 | Last Year at Marienbad | Alain Resnais |
| 1960 | Le Passage du Rhin | André Cayatte |
| Year | Golden Lion | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1959 | The General Della Rovere & The Great War (shared) | Roberto Rossellini & Mario Monicelli |
| 1958 | Aparajito | Satyajit Ray |
| 1957 | Aparajeet | Raj Kapoor |
| 1956 | No Golden Lion awarded | — |
| 1955 | Ordet | Carl Theodor Dreyer |
| 1954 | Romeo and Juliet | Renato Castellani |
| 1953 | No Golden Lion awarded | — |
| 1952 | Forbidden Games | René Clément |
| 1951 | Rashomon | Akira Kurosawa |
| 1950 | Justice is Done | André Cayatte |
| Year | Golden Lion | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Manon | Henri-Georges Clouzot |
| 1948 | Hamlet | Laurence Olivier |
| 1947 | Sirena | Karel Steklý |
| 1946 | The Southerner | Jean Renoir |
The festival’s early editions (1932–1942) used different prize names, including the Coppa Mussolini for best Italian and best foreign film. The Golden Lion as a named prize was formalised in the post-war era.
| Year | Top Award (Best Foreign Film) | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1942 | No award | — |
| 1941 | Ohm Krüger | Germany |
| 1940 | Der postmeister | Germany |
| 1939 | Gone with the Wind | USA |
| 1938 | Olympia | Germany |
| 1937 | Un carnet de bal | France |
| 1936 | Der Kaiser von Kalifornien | Germany |
| 1935 | Anna Karenina | USA |
| 1934 | Man of Aran | UK |
| 1932 | No competitive prize (unofficial selection) | — |