‘Father Mother Sister Brother’, ‘Voice Of Hind Rajab’ Take Top Prizes In Venice
In a controversial set of awards, major winners also included The Smashing Machine, which took the Silver Lion for best director.
Jim Jarmusch’s family-themed anthology film Father Mother Sister Brother was awarded the Golden Lion for best film at this year’s Venice Film Festival, while The Voice Of Hind Rajab, directed by Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania, took the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize.
Benny Safdie took the Silver Lion for best director for The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne Johnson as former MMA fighter Mark Kerr. Best actress went to China’s Xin Zhilei for Cai Shangjun’s The Sun Rises On Us All and best actor to Italy’s Toni Servillo for Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grazia (see full list of award winners below).
Jury president Alexander Payne found himself having to defend the decision to not give the top prize to The Voice Of Hind Rajab, a docudrama about the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl, which was the talk of the festival after the emotional 23-minute standing ovation at its premiere. Online chatter speculated on rumours that there had been some disagreement in the jury room, with one jury member threatening to quit.
Other films that had drawn rave reviews at the festival included Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, which came away without any major awards, and Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend, which took an award for best young actor for Luna Wedler’s performance.
The main competition jury also included French director Stéphane Brizé, Italian director Maura Delpero, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres and Chinese actress Zhao Tao.
In the Orizzonti (Horizons) competition, best film went to On The Road, directed by Mexico’s David Pablos, while best director went to India’s Anuparna Roy for Songs Of Forgotten Trees. The Special Jury Prize was awarded to Akio Fujimoto’s Lost Land, about the plight of Rohingya refugees (see full list of winners below).
Julia Ducournau chaired the Orizzonti jury, which also included Yuri Ancarani, Fernando Enrique Juan Lima, Shannon Murphy and Ramell Ross.
Silent Friend also won the FIPRESCI Award in the main competition section, while Giulio Bertelli’s Agon, which played in Venice Critics Week, took the FIPRESCI Award for festival’s other main sections.
VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2025 WINNERS:
MAIN COMPETITION:
Golden Lion For Best Film: Father Mother Sister Brother, dir: Jim Jarmusch (US, Ireland, France)
Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize: The Voice Of Hind Rajab, dir: Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia, France)
Silver Lion – Award For Best Director: Benny Safdie, The Smashing Machine (US)
Coppa Volpi For Best Actress: Xin Zhilei, The Sun Rises On Us All, directed by Cai Shangjun (China)
Coppa Volpi For Best Actor: Toni Servillo, La Grazia, directed by Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)
Award For Best Screenplay: Valérie Donzelli & Gilles Marchand, At Work, directed by Valérie Donzelli (France)
Special Jury Prize: Below The Clouds, dir: Gianfranco Rosi (Italy)
Marcello Mastroianni Award For Best Young Actor Or Actress: Luna Wedler, Silent Friend, directed by Ildikó Enyedi (Germany, Hungary, France)
ORIZZONTI (HORIZONS):
Best Film: On The Road, dir: David Pablos (Mexico)
Best Director: Anuparna Roy, Songs Of Forgotten Trees (India)
Special Jury Prize: Lost Land, dir: Akio Fujimoto (Japan, France, Malaysia, Germany)
Best Actress: Benedetta Porcaroli, Il Rapimento Di Arabella, directed by Carolina Cavalli (Italy)
Best Actor: Giacomo Covi, A Year Of School, directed by Laura Samani (Italy, France)
Best Screenplay: Ana Cristina Barragán, The Ivy (Ecuador)
Best Short Film: Without Kelly, dir: Lovisa Sirén (Sweden)
VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM:
Lion Of The Future “Luigi De Laurentiis” Award For A Debut Film: Short Summer, dir: Nastia Korkia (Germany, France, Serbia) [Giornate Degli Autori]
VENEZIA SPOTLIGHT:
Armani Beauty Audience Award: Calle Málaga, dir: Maryam Touzani (Morocco, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium)
VENICE CLASSICS:
Best Documentary On Cinema: Mata Hari, dir: Joe Beshenkovsky & James A. Smith (US)
Best Restored Film: Bashu, The Little Stranger, dir: Bahram Beyzaie (Iran, 1985)
VENICE IMMERSIVE:
Grand Prize: The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up, dir: Singing Chen (Taipei, Germany)
Special Jury Prize: Less Than 5gr Of Saffron, dir: Négar Motevalymeidanshah (France)
Achievement Prize: A Long Goodbye, dir: Kate Voet & Victor Maes (Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands)
VENICE DAYS (GIORNATE DEGLI AUTORI):
Director’s Award: Inside Amir, dir: Amir Azizi
People’s Choice Award: Memory, dir: Vladlena Sandu & A Sad And Beautiful World, dir: Cyril Aris
Europa Cinemas Label: Bearcave, dir: Stergios Dinopoulos & Krysianna B. Papadakis
