Danish Drama 'Woman Unknown' Wins Golden Lion at 83rd Venice Film Festival
17 sources across 13 countries · 2 of them are linked to a state
Who reported this
- Der Spiegel
- Frankfurter Allgemeine
- Haaretz
- The Times of Israel
- Yonhap
- The Korea Herald
- The Guardian
- Reuters
- Folha de S.Paulo
- Le Monde
- South China Morning Post
- The Indian Express
- ANSA
- NRC
- Philippine Daily Inquirer
- Al Jazeera
- Al-Monitor
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.
The Danish drama 'Woman Unknown,' directed by May el-Toukhy, won the Golden Lion for best film at the 83rd Venice Film Festival. The film, which follows a housemaid in post World War II Denmark whose relationship with a German soldier threatens her future, was the only feature in the main competition solely directed by a woman. Lead actress Mathilde Arcel also won the Volpi Cup for best actress. Jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal noted that the vote for Arcel was unanimous, which allowed the jury to grant two awards to a single film. John Malkovich won the Volpi Cup for best actor for his role in 'Wild Horse Nine,' accepting the award via video from Montreal.
The documentary 'NAZA,' directed by Israelis Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, received the Special Jury Prize. The film features anonymous testimony from 24 Israeli military and intelligence insiders regarding the systemic killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. The documentary received a record breaking 25 minute standing ovation at its premiere. During his acceptance speech, Abraham stated that the mass killings in Gaza are systemic and criticized the governments of Italy, Germany, and the United States for their policies regarding the Netanyahu regime.
Other major awards included the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize for 'Possible Love' by South Korean director Lee Chang-dong and the Silver Lion for best direction for Ilya Khrzhanovsky for his film 'Dau.' Khrzhanovsky, who renounced his Russian citizenship, dedicated his award to Ukrainians. French director Stephane Brizé won the prize for best screenplay for 'A Good Little Soldier.'
Outlets with a center lean framed the awards as a reflection of current global politics and the struggle for female representation in cinema. Center left outlets emphasized the political nature of the winners, specifically highlighting the documentary's focus on the dehumanization of Palestinians. Center right outlets focused more on the individual achievements of the filmmakers and the specific plot details of the winning films.
How each side framed it
- Left
- Focused almost exclusively on the victory of the documentary exposing Israeli military actions in Gaza.
- Centre-left
- Highlighted the political weight of the awards and the documentary's exposure of systemic violence in Gaza.
- Centre
- Framed the event as a intersection of aesthetic achievement and political statement, particularly regarding gender inequality in directing.
- Centre-right
- Focused on the cinematic merits of the winners and the professional backgrounds of the directors.
Sources
- Centre ANSA: Venice Film Festival, director May el-Toukhy wins, on stage the wars with Naza and Dau
- Centre-left Al Jazeera: Gaza genocide documentary ‘NAZA’ wins Special Jury Prize at Venice
- Centre Al-Monitor: Israeli-made Gaza documentary wins Venice special jury prize
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: Film Festival in Venice: Golden Lion goes to Danish-Egyptian director May El-Toukhy
- Centre Folha de S.Paulo: Politics was the big star of the Venice Festival awards
- Centre Folha de S.Paulo: 'Woman Unknown' and John Malkovich are awarded at the Venice Festival; see list
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: Venice Film Festival: Golden Lion for Danish director el-Toukhi
- Left Haaretz: Israeli-directed film on Gaza killings wins Special Jury Prize at Venice Film Festival
- Centre-left Le Monde: Venice Film Festival: the film « Woman Unknown », by May el-Toukhy, Golden Lion of an edition with a very political awards list
- Centre NRC: Golden Lion for Danish war drama ‘Woman Unknown’ at Venice Film Festival
- Centre Philippine Daily Inquirer: 'Woman Unknown' wins Golden Lion, Malkovich is best actor at Venice Film Festival
- Centre Reuters: List of winners at the 2026 Venice Film Festival - Reuters
- Centre-right South China Morning Post: ‘Woman Unknown’ wins Gold Lion at Venice Film Festival
- Centre-left The Guardian: Woman Unknown wins Venice film festival as NAZA takes special jury prize
- Centre The Indian Express: Venice Film Festival: Woman Unknown wins Golden Lion; John Malkovich bags best actor award
- Centre-right The Korea Herald: 'Woman Unknown' wins Golden Lion, Malkovich 'humbled' by best actor award at Venice Film Fes tival
- Centre-right The Korea Herald: Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' wins Grand Jury Prize at Venice film fest
- Centre The Times of Israel: Danish drama set in aftermath of Nazi occupation wins top prize at Venice festival
- Centre Yonhap: (2nd LD) Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' wins Grand Jury Prize at Venice film fest
- Centre Yonhap: (URGENT) Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love' wins grand jury prize at Venice film fest
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