Woman Unknown wins Venice top prize as lone female contender triumphs

VENICE – Danish film-maker May el-Toukhy’s post-war drama Woman Unknown won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival on Sept 12, with its star Mathilde Arcel taking best actress honours in a rare double victory.

El-Toukhy was the only woman directing a feature film in the main, 21-strong movie 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.

John Malkovich named Best Actor

South Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong took the runner-up Silver Lion award for Promised Love, while Russia-born film-maker Ilya Khrzhanovsky won best director for DAU, an ambitious project shot largely in Ukraine before the ongoing war that has attracted intense scrutiny and controversy.

In his acceptance speech, Khrzhanovsky, who has renounced his Russian citizenship, dedicated the prize to Ukraine.

John Malkovich won the best actor award for his role as an ageing, maverick Central Intelligence Agency agent in Martin McDonagh’s razor-sharp comedy Wild Horse Nine.

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 in 2026 as Hollywood reconsiders how to market its movies and cut costs.

Gaza in focus

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 Sept 10 – 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.

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 2026 line-up, 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 film-makers continued to face greater difficulties securing financing, limiting budgets, casting opportunities and, ultimately, access to major festivals.

The head of the main jury, US actress-director Maggie Gyllenhaal, has also raised concerns about the issue, but she rejected on Sept 12 any suggestion that the Golden Lion had been awarded on gender grounds. “I just want to celebrate a brilliantly made movie that I felt was like a laser beam,” she said. REUTERS