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Reuters

Danish filmmaker May el-Toukhy’s post-war drama Woman Unknown ⁠won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, with its star Mathilde Arcel also taking best actress honours in a rare double victory.
El-Toukhy was the only woman directing a feature film in the main, 21-strong film line-up, a disparity that drew criticism during the festival and prompted renewed scrutiny of the barriers facing women in cinema.
Set in the aftermath of World War II, Woman Unknown follows a housemaid played ‌by Arcel whose past relationship with a German soldier threatens to destroy her future.
The film unfolds against the backdrop of a newly liberated Denmark, where women accused of fraternising with occupying German forces were often subjected to vigilante justice.
“To me personally, Woman Unknown is about the female body as a battleground and a public matter. And at the same time, the film tells the tale of women who are invisible, unseen, and voiceless,” el-Toukhy said in her acceptance speech.

South Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong took the runner-up Silver Lion award for Possible Love, while Russian-born filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky won best director for DAU, a hugely ambitious ⁠project shot largely in Ukraine before the ongoing war that has attracted intense scrutiny and controversy.
Khrzhanovsky, who has renounced his Russian citizenship and is a fierce critic of ‌Moscow, dedicated his prize to Ukraine.
John Malkovich was named best actor for his performance as an ageing, maverick CIA agent in Martin McDonagh’s razor-sharp comedy Wild Horse Nine.
“I am humbled to be chosen for this award which has been given to so many wonderful actors,” ‌said Malkovich, speaking via a video link from Canada where he is shooting a new project.
The Venice festival marks the start of the awards ⁠season and regularly throws up big favourites ⁠for the Oscars.
However, many of the big studio-backed contenders that once crowded the Venice schedule were absent this year as Hollywood reconsiders how to market its films and cut costs.
In a change of ‌tone, the festival offered a programme steeped in global politics and social upheaval, including NAZA – a hard-hitting documentary by Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor that won the Special Jury Prize.
Based on anonymous interviews with 24 ‌Israeli intelligence officers ‌and soldiers, the film accuses the Israeli military of routinely approving mass civilian deaths when they target militants in the Gaza Strip. Israel has denied the charge.

The ‌documentary received a record 25-minute standing ovation at its premiere on Thursday – the second year in succession that a film about Gaza has resonated in Venice after The Voice of Hind ⁠Rajab, a true-life account of the killing of a Palestinian girl during the war.
“The Israeli intelligence officers we spoke with talked to us about how this mass killing ⁠is systemic, not by accident, but by design,” Abraham said on Saturday. “We believe that the denial of a crime is what helps it persist.”
Stephane Brize, Coralie Amedeo and Olivier Gorce received the screenplay award for their well-received French workplace drama A Good Little Soldier, while Malou Khebizi was named as best emerging ‌young actor for her role in another ‌well-received French production – A Place to Heal.
Festival director Alberto Barbera has defended the male-dominated line-up this year, insisting that selection decisions were based on artistic merit rather than quotas, and urging the industry to do more to help women break into the business.
El-Toukhy said women filmmakers continued to face greater difficulties securing financing, limiting budgets, casting opportunities and, ultimately, access to major festivals.
The head of the main jury, US actor-director Maggie Gyllenhaal, also weighed in, telling reporters that female filmmakers often struggled to secure financing because the stories they want to tell were not seen as important.


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Venice Film Festival

Director May el-Toukhy holds the Golden Lion she won for best film for “Woman Unknown” during the closing ceremony of the 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday. Photo: Invision/AP

Director Lee Chang-dong, winner of the Silver Lion for “Possible Love”, poses for photos after the closing ceremony of the 83rd Venice Film Festival on Saturday. Photo: AFP

John Malkovich appears on screen to accept the best actor prize for “Wild Horse Nine” during the closing ceremony of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday. Photo: AP

Israeli film on AI-backed Gaza killings gets 25-minute Venice ovation

A Israeli missile strikes a target in Gaza City’s Al Shati refugee camp on September 9 following an evacuation warning. Photo: APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Israeli directors  Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. Photo: EPA

An Israeli missile strikes Gaza City’s al-Shati refugee camp on September 9, following an evacuation warning. Photo: Photo: APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

A scene from ‘NAZA’. Photo: Venice Film Festival via AP

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John Malkovich (left) and Sam Rockwell in a still from Wild Horse Nine, directed by Martin McDonagh. Steve Buscemi co-stars. Photo: Searchlight Pictures/Diego Araya Corvalan

(From left) Steve Buscemi, Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich in a still from Wild Horse Nine. Photo: Searchlight Pictures/Diego Araya Corvalan

Rockwell and Malkovich pictured on Easter Island in a still from Wild Horse Nine. Photo: Searchlight Pictures/Diego Araya Corvalan

Venice 2026: Possible Love movie review – Lee Chang-dong explores class in masterful drama

Jeon Do-yeon as Mi-ok in a still from Possible Love. Photo: Netflix.

Sul Kyung-gu (left) as Ho-seok and Jeon Do-yeon (right) as Mi-ok in a still from Possible Love. Directed by Lee Chang-dong and co-starring Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong. Photo: Netflix

Cho Yeo-jeong as Ye-ji in a still from Possible Love. Photo: Netflix

Jeon Do-yeon (left) as Mi-ok and Zo In-sung as Sang-woo in a still from Possible Love. Photo: Netflix

Israel admits its troops killed 5-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza, opens criminal probe

People hold a giant portrait of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed during the war in Gaza, on a beach in Barcelona, Spain, in January. Photo: AP

An internally displaced Palestinian man walks past the rubble of buildings destroyed by the Israeli military, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on August 11, 2026. Photo: AFP

An internally displaced Palestinian man walks past the rubble of buildings destroyed by the Israeli military, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on August 11. Photo: AFP

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Danish filmmaker May el-Toukhy was the only woman directing a feature film in the main 21-strong film line-up


Danish filmmaker May el-Toukhy was the only woman directing a feature film in the main 21-strong film line-up.


‘Woman Unknown’ wins Gold Lion at Venice Film Festival

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Danish filmmaker May el-Toukhy was the only woman directing a feature film in the main 21-strong film line-up

Danish filmmaker May el-Toukhy was the only woman directing a feature film in the main 21-strong film line-up