The 2025 edition of the Venice Film Festival was full of big swings: mind-melting sci-fi (Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia), big-budget Gothic epics (Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein), piercing, pitch-black comedies (Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice), wild 18th-century musicals (Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee), and a Gaza-set drama with the potential to change the world (Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab). As a result, this year’s jury, led by Alexander Payne and featuring the likes of Fernanda Torres, Mohammad Rasoulof, and Maura Delpero, had quite a task on their hands when it came to awarding the showcase’s top prizes.
Going into the closing ceremony—which featured an emotional standing ovation for national treasure Giorgio Armani, who passed away during the festival—the frontrunners included the aforementioned titles and filmmakers, as well as Ann Lee’s Amanda Seyfried, Bugonia’s Jesse Plemons, Frankenstein’s Jacob Elordi, No Other Choice’s Lee Byung-hun, The Smashing Machine’s Dwayne Johnson, and the divisive After the Hunt’s Julia Roberts, who were among the perceived favorites for the Volpi Cups for best actor and actress, respectively. Naturally, any such victories offer a substantial pre-awards season boost.
The actual winners, though, were quite a surprise—including industry legend Jim Jarmusch coming from left field to scoop the Golden Lion for his intentionally quiet, three-part family comedy Father Mother Sister Brother.
Below, browse the winners’ list in full.
Main Competition
Golden Lion: Father Mother Sister Brother, Jim Jarmusch
Grand Jury Prize: The Voice of Hind Rajab, Kaouther Ben Hania
Special Jury Prize: Sotto le nuvole, Gianfranco Rosi
Silver Lion for Best Director: Benny Safdie, The Smashing Machine
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Xin Zhilei, The Sun Rises on Us All
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Toni Servillo, La Grazia
Best Screenplay: À pied d’œuvre, Valérie Donzelli and Gilles Marchand
Marcello Mastroianni Award for emerging performer: Luna Wedler, Silent Friend
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: Werner Herzog and Kim Novak
Orizzonti
Best Film: En el Camino, David Pablos
Best Director: Anuparna Roy, Songs of Forgotten Trees
Special Jury Prize: Hara Watan, Akio Fujimoto
Best Actress: Benedetta Porcaroli, Il Rapimento di Arabella
Best Actor: Giacomo Covi, Un Anno di Scuola
Best Screenplay: Hiedra, Ana Cristina Barragán
Best Short Film: Without Kelly, Lovisa Sirén
Venice Spotlight
Armani Beauty Audience Award: Calle Málaga, Maryam Touzani
Lion of the Future
Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film: Short Summer, Nastia Korkia
Venice Classics
Best Documentary on Cinema: Mata Hari, Joe Beshenkovsky and James Smith
Best Restored Film: Bashu, the Little Stranger, Bahram Beyzaie
Venice Immersive
Venice Immersive Achievement Prize: The Long Goodbye by Victor Maes and Kate Voet
Special Jury Prize: Less Than 5gr of Saffron by Négar Motevalymeidanshah
Grand Prize: The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up by Singing Chen and Shuping Lee