The undeniably robust 82nd edition of the Venice International Film Festival has come to a triumphant finish.

Heading into Saturday night’s awards ceremony on the Lido, Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab was widely viewed as the movie to beat. The powerful Gaza-set drama, which tells the story of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl’s desperate pleas for rescue after Israeli forces killed her relatives, received a thunderous 21-minute standing ovation at its world premiere, one of the longest in the Venice Film Festival‘s history. Hollywood heavyweights Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Alfonso Cuarón and others boosted the movie’s profile by joining its team as executive producers, while critics hailed it as an “intensely involving and resounding” indictment of Israel’s genocidal campaigns against the Palestinian population.

But nothing was certain until the ceremony was underway on Saturday, thanks to the absurd number of must-see movies that festival boss Alberto Barbera had secured for the 2025 program. Netflix brought its strongest slate in years to Italy, including Noah Baumbach’s George Clooney star vehicle Jay Kelly, Kathryn Bigelow’s gripping geopolitical thriller A House of Dynamite and Guillermo del Toro’s dark reimagining of Frankenstein, starring Jacob Elordi as the creature. And scores of the world’s top auteurs came to compete with strong new titles — many of them instant Oscar contenders the moment the customary standing ovations wound down each night inside Venice’s Sala Grande cinema.

Venice’s takeaway after nearly two weeks of peerless moviegoing was resounding: The business model of theatrical film may be under relentless assault, but the art form remains as vital as ever.

Korean maestro Park Chan-wook’s wildly inventive black comedy No Other Choice was possibly the festival favorite with critics, while Yorgos Lanthimos’ bonkers Bugonia and Paolo Sorrentino’s aching La Grazia were also celebrated as exquisite returns to form. Show-stopping performances came in the form of Julia Roberts in Luca Guadagnino’s provocative #MeToo-themed thriller After the Hunt, Amanda Seyfried as the riveting lead of Mona Fastvold’s visionary period drama Ann Lee and Dwayne Johnson in his debut as a serious dramatic lead in Benny Safdie’s MMA biopic The Smashing Machine. Jim Jarmusch’s delicate triptych Father Mother Sister Brother — featuring an all-star ensemble of Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, Indya Moore, Vicky Krieps, Tom Waits, Luka Sabbat and Charlotte Rampling — was also cheered for its effortless poignancy.

And there was much more: Jude Law as Vladimir Putin in Olivier Assayas’ The Wizard of the Kremlin, France’s François Ozon back in fine form with Albert Camus adaptation The Stranger, Willem Dafoe pulling double-duty with characteristic excellence in Late Fame and The Souffleur, Julian Schnabel’s must-see, Megalopolis-like misfire In the Hand of Dante (with a cast including Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, Al Pacino, John Malkovich, Martin Scorsese and Jason Momoa), and the one and only Werner Herzog receiving a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement from none less than fellow uber-auteur Francis Ford Coppola.

Two-time Oscar-winning director Alexander Payne (The Holdovers, Sideways) chaired the panel of global film figures tasked with the difficult duty of selecting this year’s winners. Payne’s jury included Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof, French director Stéphane Brizé, Italian filmmaker Maura Delpero (Vermiglio), Chinese actress Zhao Tao and Palme d’Or winning Romanian director Cristian Mungiu. 

The 2025 Venice Film Festival ran Aug. 27-Sept. 6. Winners will be noted below as they’re announced live. Refresh for the latest.

Main Competition

Golden Lion — Best Film

Silver Lion — Grand Jury Prize

Silver Lion — Best Director

Special Jury Prize

Best Actor

Best Actress

Best Screenplay

Orizzonti (aka Horizons Section)

Best Film

Special Jury Prize

Best Director

Best Screenplay

Best Actress

Best Actor

Best Young Actor

Best Short Film

Lion of the Future — Venice Award for a Debut Film

Orizzonti Extra Audience Award — Armani Beauty

Venice Classics Section

Best Documentary on Cinema

Best Restored Film

Vennice Immersive Section

Venice Immersive Achievement Prize
The Long Goodbye, by Victor Maes and Kate Voet (Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands)

Special Jury Prize
Less Than 5gr of Saffron, by Négar Motevalymeidanshah (France)

Grand Prize
The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up, by Singing Chen and Shuping Lee (Taiwan)