The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the "Big Five" International film festivals worldwide, which include the Big Three European Film Festivals (Venice, Cannes, Berlin), alongside the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada and the Sundance Film Festival in the United States. In 1951, FIAPF formally accredited the festival.

Founded by Giuseppe Volpi, member of the National Fascist Party and grandfather of producer Marina Cicogna, in Venice in August 1932, the festival is part of the Venice Biennale, one of the world's oldest exhibitions of art, created by the Venice City Council on 19 April 1893. The range of work at the Venice Biennale now covers Italian and international art, architecture, dance, music, theatre, and cinema. These works are experienced at separate exhibitions: the International Art Exhibition, the International Festival of Contemporary Music, the International Theatre Festival, the International Architecture Exhibition, the International Festival of Contemporary Dance, the International Kids' Carnival, and the annual Venice Film Festival, which is arguably the best-known of all the events.

The film festival branch is held in late August and early September on the island of the Lido in the Venice Lagoon. During the festival, Venice hosts many events and parties, interviews and meetings with filmmakers and actors every night, venues open all night, and parties are held in beautiful casino palaces and gardens. Screenings take place in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi. The festival continues to be one of the world's most popular and fastest-growing. Recently, due to the growing number of American productions in its sections, besides international critically acclaimed titles, the festival became a launchpad of many films for the awards season, prompting higher chance of Academy Award recognition for selected films.

The 82nd Venice International Film Festival was held from 27 August to 6 September 2025.

History

1930s

During the 1930s, the government and Italian citizens were heavily interested in film. Of the money Italians spent on cultural or sporting events, most of it went for movies. The majority of films screened in Italy were American, which led to government involvement in the film industry and the yearning to celebrate Italian culture in general. With this in mind, the Venice International Film Festival was created by Giuseppe Volpi, Luciano de Feo, and Antonio Maraini in 1932.

1936 marked another important development in the festival. A law crafted by the Ministry of Popular Culture made the festival an autonomous entity, separate from the main Venice Biennale. This allowed additional fascist organizations, such as the Department of Cinema and the Fascist National Federation of Entertainment Industries, to control it.

Development and closure

thumb|The Italian Prime Minister [[Aldo Moro and Pier Paolo Pasolini together in Venice at the premiere of the movie The Gospel According to St. Matthew in 1964]]

In 1963 the winds of change blew strongly during Luigi Chiarini’s directorship of the festival (1963–1968). During the years of his directorship, Chiarini aspired to renew the spirit and the structures of the festival, pushing for a total reorganization of the entire system. For six years the festival followed a consistent path, according to the rigid criteria put in place for the selection of works in competition, and took a firm stand against the political pressures and interference of more and more demanding movie studios, preferring the artistic quality of films to the growing commercialization of the film industry.

The social and political unrest of 1968 had strong repercussions on the Venice Bienniale. From 1969 to 1979 no prizes were awarded and the festival returned to the non-competitiveness of the first edition due to the Years of Lead. In 1973, 1977 and 1978, the festival was not even held. The Golden Lion did not make its return until 1980. increasing the presence of American movies and hosting the world premieres of Academy Award–winning films such as Gravity (2013), Birdman (2014), Spotlight (2015), La La Land (2016), The Shape of Water (2017), A Star Is Born (2018), The Favourite (2018), Roma (2018), Joker (2019), Nomadland (2020), Dune (2021), The Whale (2022), Poor Things (2023),The Brutalist (2024) and Frankenstein (2025).

In 2017 a new section for virtual reality films was introduced. Initially this section was called Venice Virtual Reality, but in 2022 the organisation announced the new name to be Venice Immersive. The Venice Film Festival was the first of the "Big Five" international film festivals worldwide to introduce virtual reality to the festival program. Therefore, Venice Immersive quickly became the most important podium for the emerging medium within film to date.

In 2018 Roma by Alfonso Cuarón won the Golden Lion and became the first movie produced by a streaming service, Netflix, to win at a major film festival.

Direction

The president of the Venice Biennale represents the festival in front of its financial partner, the public authorities, and the media. He is chosen by the Italian Ministry of Culture every 4 years. The current president is Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, appointed in March 2024. Previously the post has been held by Paolo Baratta (2008–2020) and Roberto Cicutto (2020–2024).

The director of the Festival is responsible for coordinating the events and is chosen by the president of the Venice Biennale and its delegates. The current director Alberto Barbera was appointed in December 2011. On 27 October 2020 Barbera's term was renewed for 4 more years until 2024. In May 2024, his last mandate was extended until 2026. He previously held the position from 1998 to 2002.

Festival programme

The goal of the Venice Film Festival is to "raise awareness and promote international cinema in all its forms, including art, entertainment and industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue." The Venice Film Festival is organized in various sections:

  • Official Selection - The main event of the festival.
  • In Competition - About 21 films competing for the Golden Lion.
  • Out of Competition - Maximum of 18 important works of the year will be presented but do not compete for the main prize.
  • Orizzonti - The films that represent the latest trends in international cinema by young talents will be presented.
  • Venice Classics - Selection of the finest restoration of classic films will be featured.
  • Sconfini - Maximum of 10 works that typically includes art house and genre films, experimental works, TV series and cross-media productions will be featured.
  • Venice Immersive - Maximum of 30 works in competition and out of competition will be presented.
  • Independent and Parallel Sections - These are alternative programmes dedicated to discover other aspects of cinema.
  • International Critics' Week - No more than 8 debut films will be screened with its own regulations.
  • Giornate degli Autori - No more than 12 films will be promoted by ANAC and 100 Autori Association.

Awards

thumb|upright|[[Todd Phillips with the Golden Lion won by his film Joker at the 2019 edition]]

thumb|upright|[[Valeria Golino winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actress in 2015 for Per amor vostro]]

thumb|upright|[[Abraham Attah winning the Marcello Mastroianni Award in 2015 for Beasts of No Nation]]

The Film Festival has four Juries to judge the entries: Venezia 79, Orizzonti, Premio Venezia Opera Prima "Luigi De Laurentiis", and Venice Immersive. The Film Festival's current awards are:

Official selection: In competition

  • Golden Lion (Leone d'Oro), awarded to the best film screened in competition at the festival. The award was introduced in 1949 as the Golden Lion of San Marco
  • Grand Jury Prize, awarded to the second best film screened in competition at the festival
  • Silver Lion (Leone d'Argento), awarded to the best director in the competitive section
  • Special Jury Prize, awarded to the third best film screened in competition at the festival
  • Volpi Cup (Coppa Volpi), awarded to the best actor/actress
  • See – Volpi Cup for Best Actor
  • See – Volpi Cup for Best Actress
  • Best Screenplay, awarded to the best screenwriter in the competitive section
  • Golden Osella (Osella d'Oro), awarded for outstanding creative and technical contributions
  • Marcello Mastroianni Award, instituted in 1998 in honor of Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, who died in 1996. The award was created to acknowledge an emerging actor or actress
  • Special Lion, awarded for an overall work to a director or actor of a film presented in the main competition section.

Orizzonti (Horizons)

This section is open to all "custom-format" works, with a wider view towards new trends in the expressive languages that converge in film. Starting from the 67th edition of the festival, four awards of the Orizzonti section have been established:

  • The Orizzonti Award for Feature Films
  • The Special Orizzonti Jury Prize (for feature films)
  • The Orizzonti Award for Short Film
  • The Orizzonti Award for Medium-length Film

More awards were added in the following years:

The awards under this section are:

  • Venice Immersive Grand Prize (Gran Premio)
  • Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize (Premio Speciale della Giuria)
  • Venice Immersive Achievement Prize (Premio per la Realizzazione)

Giornate degli Autori

The Giornate degli Autori (formerly Venice Days) is an independent and parallel section founded in 2004 in association with Venice Film Festival. It is modelled on the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. Anac and 100autori which are both associations of Italian film directors and authors are engaged to support and promote the Giornate.

The awards under this sections are:

  • Giornate Degli Autori (GDA) Award
  • Label Europa Cinema Award
  • BNP Paribas People's Choice Award

Lion of the Future (Luigi De Laurentis)

thumb|upright|230px|Lion of the Future

All the debut feature films in the various competitive sections in the Venice Film Festival, whether in Official Selection or Independent and Parallel Sections, are eligible for this award. The winner will be awarded a prize of US$100,000, which to be divided equally between the director and the producer.

Past awards

Audience referendum

In the first edition of the festival in 1932, due to the lack of a jury and the awarding of official prizes, a list of acknowledgements was decided by popular vote, a tally determined by the number of people flocking to the films, and announced by the Organizing Committee. From this, the Best Director was awarded to Russian Nikolai Ekk for the film Road to Life, while by René Clair was voted Best Film.

Mussolini Cup ()

The Mussolini Cup was the top award from 1934 to 1942 for Best Italian and Best Foreign Film. Named after Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini, it was abandoned upon his ousting in 1943.

Mussolini Cup for Best Italian film

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year !! Film !! Original title !! Director(s)

|-

! 1934

| Loyalty of Love || || Guido Brignone

|-

! 1935

| colspan="2" | || Carmine Gallone

|-

! 1936

| colspan="2" | || Augusto Genina

|-

! 1937

| Scipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal || || Carmine Gallone

|-

! 1938

| Luciano Serra, Pilot || || Goffredo Alessandrini

|-

! 1939

| Cardinal Messias || || Goffredo Alessandrini

|-

! 1940

| The Siege of the Alcazar || || Augusto Genina

|-

! 1941

| The Iron Crown || || Alessandro Blasetti

|-

! 1942

| colspan="2" | || Augusto Genina

|}

Mussolini Cup for Best foreign film

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year !! Film !! Original title !! Director(s) || Country

|-

! 1934

| colspan="2" | Man of Aran || Robert J. Flaherty || United Kingdom, Irish Free State

|-

! 1935

| colspan="2" | Anna Karenina || Clarence Brown || United States

|-

! 1936

| colspan="2" | || Luis Trenker || Nazi Germany

|-

! 1937

| Life Dances On || || Julien Duvivier || France

|-

! 1938

| colspan="2" | Olympia || Leni Riefenstahl || rowspan="4" | Nazi Germany

|-

! 1940

| colspan="2" | || Gustav Ucicky

|-

! 1941

| colspan="2" | || Hans Steinhoff

|-

! 1942

| The Great King || || Veit Harlan

|}

Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment

was awarded to Best Actor and Best Actress. It was later replaced by the Volpi Cup for actors and actresses.