Who will win the Lion at Venice? [2025 Edition]

This is definitely the best lineup at Venice in a while. Former winners Rosi, Lanthimos, del Toro. American auteurs Bigelow and Jarmusch. Young voices Nemes, Marcello, Safdie. And on top of that, Park Chan-wook! It really feels to me like it's Park Chan-wooks turn to win something?

But I really wanted a place to discuss the festival, since the out-of-competition and sidebars are almost even more impressive. New documentaries from Tsai Ming-liang, Alexander Sokurov and Lucretia Martel. And even Orrizzonti, which is usually a poor mans Un Certain Regard or Berlinale Forum, is looking stacked with new names like Ali Asgari, Teona Strugar Mitevska, Alejo Moguillansky, Gastón Solnicki and Mark Jenkin. It blows this years Cannes sidebars out of the water, and I'm not sure I've ever seen that happen before.

Are we finally seeing the consequences of the rubbish programming Cannes has offered for the last many years?

I don't much like documentaries in general, but I like the idea of Tsai Ming-liang, Alexander Sokurov and Lucretia Martel making them. Wang Bing’s Youth (Spring) (from Cannes) was an incredible film. None of these directors are in the competition

There are a lot of Italian directors that I’m not familiar with. I’ve come to hate Lanthimos and Del Toro, I am somewhat over Baumbach and Bigelow, and I’m wondering if I will really like any Jarmusch or Ozon or Assayas films ever again (am most hopeful about Jarmusch).

For me the jury is out on Park Chan-Wook, I really loved Oldboy, but The Handmaiden seemed kind of remote to me. Decision to Leave didn't move me at all, but it is a film I will have to watch again.

Girl and Orphan and The Smashing Machine sound somewhat interesting, and there are a bunch of directors that I know nothing about

IIRC the Jarmusch film was submitted to Cannes but was not chosen for competition on any strand. Saint Laurent and Mubi (the producers, amongst others) had organised an elaborate launch event in a villa in Cannes between the time they submitted it and the time it was rejected and the whole event was pulled. There was talk that the resulting debacle around Emilia Perez last year had soured the committee on any SL involvement but who knows? It could just be a shit film and was rejected because of that. Jarmusch has made plenty of them, after all. I liked Paterson fwiw.

I didn't hear that he was rejected from Cannes, just that it didn't happen. Who really knows what the circumstances were.

People didn't like Jarmusch's last film The Dead Don't Die either, but I thought it was brilliant

For what it's worth I loved Emilia Perez and I think it will be remembered.

Emilia Perez won two awards at Cannes! the Jury Prize and the Best Actress award as an ensemble

I hated Dead Don't Die, so I don't really think Cannes would reject any Jarmusch film just because it's shit. They program so many shit films at the moment, they don't seem to care. The one guy they've poached from Venice recently has been Mario Martone...

oh god a new Park Chan-wook so happy sorry Dan I fped you for philistinism

I don't think Jarmusch was rejected by Cannes because of quality: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/aug/31/father-mother-sister-brother-review-jim-jarmusch-cate-blanchett-charlotte-rampling-tom-waits Sounds pretty good.

Park Chan-wook is getting raves. The new documentary by Gianfranco Rosi too, although I can't see him win yet another Lion.

Could be A House of Dynamite, based on reviews?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Fun fact: when I was getting newly enthusiastic about films early in the century, I would have cited Ozon as a major factor. Seems somewhat hard to imagine that world at this point.

I'll go for PC-W, even though I too tend to be curiously unmoved by his admittedly pretty-looking later films!

I think Summer of 85 might be my favorite Ozon? There's very few of them that I've seen more than once, though.

It might also be Kaouther ben Hania, based on descriptions. Venice is more doc-friendly than the other big festivals.

"The Voice of Hind Rajab" stuns #VeniceFilmFestival with its longest standing ovation of 22 minutes amid tears and "free Palestine" chants. https://t.co/6OTe151ZGs pic.twitter.com/V8Y4CBanJw

— Variety (@Variety) September 3, 2025

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Golden Lion to Father Mother Sister Brother

Main Competition

Golden Lion — Best Film
Father Mother Sister Brother

Silver Lion — Grand Jury Prize
The Voice of Hind Rajab

Silver Lion — Best Director
Benie Safdie for The Smashing Machine

Special Jury Prize
Below the Clouds by Gianfranco Rossi

Best Actor
Toni Servillo for La Grazia (Italy)

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

Best Screenplay
Valérie Donzelli & Gilles Marchand for At Work (France)

Best Young Actress
Luna Wedler for Silent Friend (Germany, France, Hungary)

Armani Beauty Audience Award
Calle Málaga by Maryam Touzani

Lion of the Future (Venice Award for Debut Film)
Short Summer by Nastia Korkia

Hah, I was right. (No rationale, I just went with my first instinctive guess - literally the first film that would come to mind.)

Jarmusch with a festival fave in 2025, would never have guessed it

I'm sure it's very good, but it also does seem like a film that jury president Alexander Payne would go for

Probably thought Jarmusch because he’s a longtime arthouse heavyweight who has rarely been to Venice and never had a feature win the biggest prize at Cannes, Berlin or Venice. But regardless the reviews have been good.

Apparently The Voice of Hind Rajab earned a 20-minute standing ovation.

Maybe 22 or 23 minutes - there was some video posted online, but it wasn't just an ovation, a substantial number of people were chanting "Free Palestine" (though I have no idea for how long).