The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, p ...

's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a second Golden Lion was introduced; this is an honorary award for people who have made an important contribution to cinema. The prize was introduced in 1949 as the Golden

Lion of Saint Mark The Lion of Saint Mark, representing Mark the Evangelist, pictured in the form of a winged lion, is an aspect of the Tetramorph. On the pinnacle of St Mark's Cathedral he is depicted as holding a Bible, and surmounting a golden lion which is ...

(which was one of the best known symbols of the ancient

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

). In 1954, the prize was permanently named Golden Lion. Previously, the equivalent prize was the ''Gran Premio Internazionale di Venezia'' (Grand International Prize of Venice), awarded in 1947 and 1948. Before that, from 1934 until 1942, the highest awards were the '' Coppa Mussolini'' (Mussolini Cup) for Best Italian Film and Best Foreign Film.

History

The prize was first awarded in 1949. Previously, the equivalent prize was the Gran Premio Internazionale di Venezia (Grand International Prize of Venice), awarded in 1947 and 1948. No Golden Lions were awarded between 1969 and 1979. According to the Biennale's official website, this hiatus was a result of the 1968 Lion being awarded to the radically experimental '' Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos''; the website says that the awards "still had a statute dating back to the fascist era and could not side-step the general political climate. Sixty-eight produced a dramatic fracture with the past". Fourteen French films have been awarded the Golden Lion, more than that of any other nation. However, there is considerable geographical diversity in the winners. Eight American filmmakers have won the Golden Lion, with awards for

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...

and Robert Altman (both times the awards were shared with other winners who tied), as well as

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popula ...

(''

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'' was the first winning US film not to tie),

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction. Arono ...

Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola (; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and actress. The youngest child and only daughter of filmmakers Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, she made her film debut as an infant in her father's acclaimed ...

Todd Phillips Todd Phillips (né Bunzl, born December 20, 1970) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He began his career in 1993 and directed films in the 2000s such as ''Road Trip (film), Road Trip'', ''Old School (film), Old School'', ...

, Chloé Zhao, and Laura Poitras. Although prior to 1980, only three of 21 winners were of non-European origin, since the 1980s, the Golden Lion has been presented to a number of Asian filmmakers, particularly in comparison to the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, which has only been awarded to five Asian filmmakers since 1980. The Golden Lion, by contrast, has been awarded to ten Asians during the same time period, with two of these filmmakers winning it twice. Ang Lee won the Golden Lion twice within three years during the 2000s, once for an American film and once for a Chinese-language film.

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retriev ...

has also won twice. Other Asians to win the Golden Lion since 1980 include

Jia Zhangke Jia Zhangke ( zh, c=贾樟柯, p=Jiǎ Zhāngkē, born 24 May 1970) .He is a Chinese-language film and television director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and writer. He is the dean of the Shanxi Film Academy of Shanxi Media College and the dea ...

Hou Hsiao-hsien Hou Hsiao-hsien (; born 8 April 1947) is a Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a leading figure in world cinema and in Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement. He won the Golden Lion at the Venice ...

Tsai Ming-liang Tsai Ming-liang (; born 27 October 1957) is a Malaysian-Taiwanese filmmaker. Tsai has written and directed 11 feature films, many short films, and television films. He is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of Taiwanese ...

, Trần Anh Hùng,

Takeshi Kitano is a Japanese comedian, television presenter, actor, filmmaker, and author. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. With th ...

Kim Ki-duk Kim Ki-duk ( ; 20 December 196011 December 2020) was a South Korean film director and screenwriter, noted for his idiosyncratic art-house cinematic works. His films have received many distinctions in the festival circuit, rendering him one of ...

Jafar Panahi Jafar Panâhi ( fa, جعفر پناهی, ; born 11 July 1960) is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film editor, commonly associated with the Iranian New Wave film movement. After several years of making short films and working as an ass ...

Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spher ...

, and

Lav Diaz Lavrente Indico Anciro Diaz (born December 30, 1958) is a Filipino independent filmmaker and former film critic. Frequently known as one of the key members of the slow cinema movement, having made several of the longest narrative films on recor ...

. Russian filmmakers have also won the Golden Lion several times, including since the end of the USSR. Still, to date 33 of the 54 winners were European men (including Soviet/Russian winners). Since 1949, only seven women have ever won the Golden Lion for directing:

Margarethe von Trotta Margarethe von Trotta (; born 21 February 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, and actress. She has been referred to as a "leading force" of the New German Cinema movement.

, Agnès Varda,

, Chloé Zhao,

Audrey Diwan Audrey Diwan (born 1980) is a French film director of Lebanese origin. Prior to becoming a film director she worked as a journalist and a screenwriter. She is a member of Collectif 50/50, a French NGO promoting equality between men and women i ...

, and Laura Poitras (though it must be noted that in 1938, German director

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda. A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...

won the Festival when its highest award was the Coppa Mussolini). In 2019, '' Joker'' became the first movie based on original comic book characters to win the prize.

Golden Lion

Mario Monicelli Roberto Rossellini Leone d'Oro

1989 Venice film festival Hou Hsiao-hsien winner of the Gold Lion

Golden Lion for Best Film frim afar (25530461470)

The following films received the Golden Lions or the major awards of the Venice Film Festival: ; Notes : ^# Denotes

ex-aequo ''Ex aequo et bono'' (Latin for "according to the right and good" or "from equity and conscience") is a Latin phrase that is used as a legal term of art. In the context of arbitration, it refers to the power of arbitrators to dispense with conside ...

win : ^§ Denotes unanimous win

Multiple winners

Four directors have won the award twice: *

André Cayatte André Cayatte (3 February 1909, in Carcassonne – 6 February 1989, in Paris) was a French filmmaker, writer and lawyer, who became known for his films centering on themes of crime, justice, and moral responsibility. Cayatte began his directoral ...

(1950 & 1960) *

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down," Malle's filmogr ...

(1980 & 1987) *

(1992 & 1999) *

(2005 & 2007)

Golden Lion Honorary Award

References

External links