Tag: venice
Festival Fever Ignites the 2026 Oscar Race: Venice and Telluride Shake Up Early Academy Award Odds
With the prestigious film festivals of Venice and Telluride now officially inscribed in cinematic history, the race for the 2026 Academy Awards has begun to take definitive shape. While early frontrunners established a commanding baseline months ago, the latest wave of festival premieres has injected genuine volatility into the competition. Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster epic The […]
Beyond Borders and Baselines: How Xavier Tera and Jeremy O. Harris Crafted the Venice-Winning Coming-Of-Age Drama ‘The Color of the Sun’
Main Facts Set against the lush, politically charged backdrop of Okinawa—an island off the coast of mainland Japan carrying a heavy historical footprint—The Color of the Sun emerged as one of the most unexpected critical darlings of the Venice Film Festival. Directed by photographer-turned-filmmaker Xavier Tera, the feature won the prestigious FIPRESCI International Critics’ Prize […]
Venice Film Festival 2026: Film Comment Wraps Up the Lido with Final Dispatch on NAZA, Company, and Festival Standouts
Main Facts The 2026 Venice Film Festival has officially drawn to a close, concluding two weeks of high-profile premieres, critical debates, and cinematic celebrations along the picturesque shores of the Lido di Venezia. As the dust settles on the prestigious Italian event, Film Comment has released its final podcast episode covering the festival’s high-stakes closing […]
The 83rd Venice Film Festival Concludes: A Triumphant Return to Oscar-Form Glory on the Lido
The 83rd Venice Film Festival has officially drawn its curtain, concluding one of the most robust, critically lauded, and fiercely competitive editions the Lido has witnessed in recent memory. Not since 2023—when Yorgos Lanthimos’s eventual Oscar juggernaut Poor Things stormed the festival and captured the hearts of audiences and critics alike—has the Italian autumn showcase […]
The 83rd Venice Film Festival Concludes: Woman Unknown Claims the Golden Lion and Upends the Early 2027 Oscar Race
VENICE, ITALY — The 83rd Venice International Film Festival concluded its landmark run on Sunday with a stunning victory for Danish cinema, signaling a dramatic shake-up for the upcoming awards season. May el-Toukhy’s postwar drama Woman Unknown walked away with the prestigious Golden Lion for Best Film, thrusting itself into the center of the Academy […]
Maggie Gyllenhaal Defends Venice Film Festival Jury’s Golden Lion Decision Amid Scrutiny Over Gender Representation
VENICE, Italy — Actor and filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal concluded her tenure as the president of the Venice Film Festival main competition jury on Saturday night by awarding the festival’s highest honor, the Golden Lion, to Woman Unknown, directed by May el-Toukhy. The victory capped off a tense and culturally charged festival cycle that Gyllenhaal herself […]
‘Letters from the Silenced Country’ Wins Golden Globes Impact Prize at Venice Film Festival: A Triumph of Human Resilience
VENICE — Belarusian filmmaker Andrei Kutsila has been awarded the prestigious Golden Globes Impact Prize for Documentary at the Venice Film Festival for his poignant and urgent feature, Letters from the Silenced Country. Presented in partnership with the Artemis Rising Foundation, the juried collateral award honors a documentary in the festival’s official selection that masterfully […]
Venice Film Festival 2026: Film Comment Podcast Analyzes Auteurs, Avant-Garde Experiments, and Breakout Hits
Main Facts Reporting directly from the picturesque shores of the Lido di Venezia, the editorial team at Film Comment has continued its comprehensive daily coverage of the Venice Film Festival. In their fifth special dispatch podcast from the 2026 festival, Co-Editor Devika Girish sat down with prominent film critics and programmers Jordan Cronk and Öykü […]
Inside the "Bunker": Florian Zeller, Penélope Cruz, and Javier Bardem Untangle the Modern Age of Isolation at the Venice Film Festival
Introduction: A Triumph on the Lido A day after commanding a staggering, emotional 16-minute standing ovation at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, writer-director Florian Zeller sat down over a virtual link to process what he described as a deeply humbling physical sensation. For Zeller, whose roots lie firmly in the high-stakes world of live […]
From the Colosseum to the Concert Stage: Russell Crowe Unveils His Musical Soul with ‘What Love Builds’ at the Venice Film Festival
VENICE, Italy — For decades, Russell Crowe has commanded the silver screen with the imposing gravity of a Roman general, the sharp intellect of a whistleblower, and the rugged charisma of a sea captain. Yet beneath the glittering accolades of an illustrious Hollywood career—including an Academy Award for Ridley Scott’s monumental 2000 epic Gladiator—beats the […]
