It all began on August 6, 1932, when it is projected on the terrace of the Hotel Excelsior at the Lido Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Rouben Mamoulian. It is the first film of the first International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art, the Venice Biennale. There is no competition yet, and there is no Golden Lion. The public votes through a referendum. But that first edition is already a declaration of modernity: It Happened One Night by Frank Capra, Grand Hotel by Edmund Goulding, Frankenstein by James Whale, The Champ by King Vidor, To us freedom by René Clair and works by directors such as Ernst Lubitsch, Howard Hawks, and Raoul Walsh. Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, James Cagney, Fredric March, Norma Shearer, Loretta Young, and Vittorio De Sica appeared on screen. More than 25.000 spectators attended that first experience.
History up to the present day (1934-2026)
In 1934 the event became competitiveThe Mussolini Cup is born, the ancestor of the highest recognition for films, and a young Katharine Hepburn receives the award for best performance for Little WomenIt is also the year of the scandal of Extase by Gustav Machatý, in which Hedy Kieslerová, destined to become famous in Hollywood as Hedy Lamarr, appears nude. From 1935, the Venice Film Festival became an annual event and the acting award was renamed the Coppa Volpi. In 1937, the Palazzo del Cinema was inaugurated, destined to become the physical heart of the event. Marlene Dietrich arrived at the Lido and caused a huge stir; Bette Davis was awarded best actress and Jean Gabin won with The great illusion. The late 1930s However, they also show the Exhibition's ambivalence towards European political history. Pressure from the fascist regime increased and in 1938 the prize was awarded Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl and Luciano Serra pilot by Goffredo Alessandrini, while American cinema, until then a leading figure, distanced itself from the event. It is one of the most complex chapters in the Venetian archive: the festival began as an international celebration of cinematic art, but was increasingly caught up in the political tensions of a Europe hurtling toward war. The war years interrupted the continuity of the event. The 1940, 1941, and 1942 editions were subsequently considered non-existent. After the war break, the Exhibition was reborn in 1946, with screenings at the Cinema San Marco because the Palazzo del Cinema was still requisitioned by the Allies. It was post-war cinema that restored Venice's international dimension. Paisa by Roberto Rossellini, The earth trembles by Luchino Visconti, Tragic hunt by Giuseppe De Santis and works by Laurence Olivier, Fritz Lang, John Huston, David Lean, Orson Welles, and Jean Cocteau. In 1947, the Festival attracted 90.000 attendees in the courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale, and in 1949 it returned permanently to the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido.
But it is in the fifties that Venice definitively assumes the role of great observatory of world cinema. In 1951 the Golden Lion in Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa produces a historic effect: Japanese cinema enters the Western imagination with force. In the following years, other great Japanese films will arrive, from Mizoguchi to Inagaki and Kurosawa himself. In 1957 the Golden Lion goes to gadget di Satyajit Ray, opening a decisive window on Indian cinema. These are also the years in which the Lido definitively becomes a place of international stardom. Marlon Brando, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, Silvana Mangano and Giulietta Masina arrive. Sophia Loren wins the Volpi Cup in 1958 for The Black Orchid. In the 1959 The Great War by Mario Monicelli wins the Golden Lion, while the Festival continues to host Fellini, Antonioni, Bergman, Dreyer, Bresson and the new European authors. The sixties are perhaps one of the most extraordinary eras in the history of the Festival. It is the moment in which auteur cinema becomes the absolute protagonist. In 1961 the Golden Lion goes to Last year in Marienbad by Alain Resnais. In 1962 Valerio Zurlini won ex aequo with Family chronicle and Andrei Tarkovsky with Ivan's Childhood. Then comes an unrepeatable sequence of Italian cinema: Francesco Rosi with Hands on the city in 1963, Michelangelo Antonioni with Il deserto rosso in 1964, Luchino Visconti with Vague stars of the Ursa in 1965 and Gillo Pontecorvo with La battaglia di Algeri in 1966. Four consecutive Golden Lions that also tell the story of Italy's extraordinary cultural season. It is the era of Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci, Marco Ferreri, Ermanno Olmi, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, but also of Godard, Bergman, Dreyer, Kurosawa, Bresson, Truffaut, Polanski, Cassavetes, and Buñuel. On the red carpet and in the theaters, faces destined to become icons emerge: Claudia Cardinale, Marcello Mastroianni, and Monica Vitti. In 1967, the Golden Lion goes to Belle de jour by Luis Buñuel. In 1968 the highest prize was awarded to Alexander Kluge for The artists under the circus dome: perplexedThen 1968 changed everything. The protests affected the Exhibition and called into question the very structure of the festival. From 1969 al 1979 The editions are non-competitive and the prizes are abolished. It is a long parenthesis that reflects the crisis of cultural institutions and the changes in society. But it is precisely in those years that the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: in 1971 it was assigned to John Ford, in 1972 a Charlie Chaplin, inaugurating a tradition destined to become one of the most prestigious awards in world cinema.
The rebirth comes in the 1980sIn 1980 the Golden Lion was reinstated and awarded ex aequo to louis malle for Atlantic City e John cassavetes for GloriaCarlo Lizzani's new direction restores the Venice Film Festival's international ambition and introduces the Mezzogiorno-Mezzanotte section, capable of bringing great American spectacular cinema to the Lido: The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, NA, The Gates of Heaven e PoltergeistVenice thus demonstrates that it can be both an auteur festival and a major popular event. In 1981 another historic moment arrives: Margaret von Trotta becomes the first woman to win the Golden Lion, with Years of leadIn 1982 Wim Wenders won with The state of thingsMeanwhile, Venice helped launch authors such as Emir Kusturica, Peter Greenaway, and Nanni Moretti. In 1983 the Golden Lion goes to Jean-Luc Godard for First name Carmen; in 1985 to Agnès Varda for Without a roof or a lawIn 1986 it was Eric Rohmer's turn with The green ray. The 1980s are also the years of films that have remained in the collective memory: Zelig by Woody Allen, E la nave va by Fellini, Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, Once upon a time in America by Sergio Leone. In 1988 Martin Scorsese arrives at the Lido with The last temptation of Christ, accompanied by strong religious and political controversies. In the same year Pedro Almodóvar made himself known to an international audience with Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown, while the Golden Lion goes to Ermanno Olmi for La leggenda del santo bevitore. In 1989 it was the turn of Krzysztof Kieślowski with the Ten Commandments and the Golden Lion to Hou Hsiao-hsien for City of Sorrows.
- the nineties They bring an even more international stardom to the Lido. Under the direction of Gillo Pontecorvo, the Festival aims to return to being "the capital of filmmakers" and physically bring great directors and stars back to Venice. Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Tom Hanks, and Denzel Washington are coming. The Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement honor personalities such as Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Francis Ford Coppola. It is also the decade in which Venice definitively consecrates Asian cinema: Golden Lion to Zhang Yimou in 1992 for The Story of Qiu Ju, to Tsai Ming-liang in 1994 for Long live love, to Anh Hung Tran in 1995 for Cycling and to Takeshi Kitano in 1997 for Hanabi. In 1994 he also arrives at the Lido The Nightmare Before Christmas, while in 1996 Ghost in the Shell by Mamoru Oshii appears in the section dedicated to audiovisual research, anticipating a part of the imagery that would influence cinema and popular culture in the following years. In 1998 So they laughed by Gianni Amelio wins the Golden LionThis is the ninth highest award given to an Italian film. The end of the decade paved the way for the Festival's major organizational transformation and the new era of international cinema.
The new millennium brings a new generation of authors to the Lido. Venice intercepts talents such as Spike Jonze, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Sofia Coppola, Guillermo del Toro and many others. Asian cinema continues to win the highest recognition with Zhang Yimou, Jafar Panahi and Mira Nair. Meanwhile, events destined to make history are arriving at the Lido, such as the posthumous presentation of Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrick with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, or Martin Scorsese's journey through the history of Italian cinema. The 2000s and 2010s saw a succession of great auteurs and new protagonists. The Golden Lion passes by Golden Lion to Peter Mullan for The Magdalene Sisters in 2002 to Sofia Coppola for Somewhere in 2010, through Ang Lee, Jia Zhangke, Darren Aronofsky, Samuel Maoz and many others. Venice is increasingly becoming the place where quality American cinema chooses to present itself to the world.
In 2007, for the 75th anniversary of the Exhibition, the history of the festival and the The 75th Golden Lion is awarded to Bernardo Bertolucci. That edition brings to the Lido Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Jude Law, Charlize Theron and many other stars. It's proof of how the festival has now achieved an almost unique balance between auteur cinema, cultural prestige, and great international entertainment.
In 2011 George Clooney returns to Venice as a director, opening the Festival with The Ides of March. In the 2013 Gravity by Alfonso Cuarón, with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, inaugurates the 3D Exhibition. In 2017 the Golden Lion goes to The Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro and his career are awarded Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. In the 2018 Rome by Alfonso Cuarón wins the Golden Lion, while the Lido welcomes Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Tilda Swinton, Natalie Portman and Willem Dafoe. In 2019 the Golden Lion goes to Joker by Todd Phillips, played by Joaquin Phoenix. The red carpet arrives Brad Pitt, Scarlett Johansson, Meryl Streep, Adam Driver, Laura Dern, Penélope Cruz and Timothée ChalametIt is one of the editions that best represents the new relationship between auteur cinema and the general public.
Then comes 2020. The pandemic is disrupting the global cultural calendar, but Venice has chosen to hold the Venice Film Festival. It's a powerful symbolic gesture: while many festivals are forced to cancel or postpone their editions, the Lido is keeping its theaters open, redesigning its procedures and spaces. Tilda Swinton receives the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement and the Golden Lion for Best Film goes to nomadland by Chloé ZhaoThe following year, in 2021, the Lifetime Achievement Lion was awarded to Roberto Benigni and the one for best film The event by Audrey Diwan. In 2022 Venice celebrates its 90 years. Catherine Deneuve and Paul Schrader receive the Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement and the top award goes to All the Beauty and the Bloodshed by Laura Poitras. In 2023 the Exhibition celebrates its 80th edition with the Lifetime Achievement Lions at Liliana Cavani and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, while poor things by Yorgos Lanthimos wins the Golden Lion. They arrive in 2024 Sigourney Weaver and Peter Weir including Lifetime Achievement Lions and The Room Next Door by Pedro Almodóvar wins the Golden Lion.
But the history of the Exhibition cannot be told only through the winners
It's also made up of the faces that transformed the Lido into a legendary place. The photographs from the Biennale's Historical Archives offer a veritable gallery of world cinema: Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall, Anna Magnani, Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, Claudia Cardinale, Jeanne Moreau, Catherine Deneuve, Julie Christie, Meryl Streep, Isabelle Huppert, Gong Li, Nicole Kidman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Charlize Theron, Monica Bellucci, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, Cate Blanchett, and Scarlett JohanssonThey are different generations, but together they tell the story of the transformation of the role of women, celebrity, and cinema itself in society. And then there are the men who made the Lido a gallery of great directors: Chaplin, Ford, Welles, Renoir, Rossellini, Visconti, Fellini, Antonioni, Kurosawa, Bergman, Dreyer, Buñuel, Godard, Tarkovsky, Bertolucci, Coppola, Scorsese, Spielberg, Wenders, Almodóvar, Kitano, Zhang Yimou, Lynch, Cronenberg, Cuarón, del ToroSome won, some lost, some were contested, others discovered right here in Venice. But all contributed to building the symbolic heritage of the Festival. In 2026, in the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, the history of the Lido adds a new chapter to its extraordinary roll of honour. The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement is awarded to George Clooney, American actor, director and producer, one of the most recognizable figures in contemporary cinema.
This, after all, is the true story of the Venice Film Festival. Not just the roll of honor, but the collection of encounters, images, controversies, discoveries, and accolades that have transformed an exhibition born almost by chance on the terrace of the Excelsior into 1932 in the oldest international film festival. The Golden Lion became its symbol. But the true heritage of the Venice Film Festival is perhaps what cannot be encapsulated in a prize: its ability to recognize, sometimes before others, emerging cinema. This is why the Lido remains a unique place. Twentieth-century masters have graced this stage, careers have been born, films destined for epoch-making have been consecrated, controversies have erupted, and the rules of cinema have changed. The Venice Film Festival has endured fascism, war, reconstruction, the Cold War, protests, globalization, television, home video, streaming, and now artificial intelligence. This is the magic of Venice: for almost a century, it has done more than simply show cinema. It has sought to understand, through cinema, where the world is headed.
