Dwayne Johnson poses for photographers on the red carpet for the film 'The Smashing Machine' during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Emma Stone poses for photographers on the red carpet for the film 'Bugonia' during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Director Kathryn Bigelow poses for photographers at the red carpet for the film 'A House of Dynamite' during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Director Guillermo del Toro poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Frankenstein' during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (Photo by Alessandra Tarantino/Invision/AP)
Jacob Elordi poses for photographers at the red carpet for the film 'Frankenstein' during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Benny Safdie poses for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony of the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (Photo by Alessandra Tarantino/Invision/AP)
Dwayne Johnson poses for photographers on the red carpet for the film 'The Smashing Machine' during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
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Emma Stone poses for photographers on the red carpet for the film 'Bugonia' during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
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Director Kathryn Bigelow poses for photographers at the red carpet for the film 'A House of Dynamite' during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
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Director Guillermo del Toro poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Frankenstein' during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (Photo by Alessandra Tarantino/Invision/AP)
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Jacob Elordi poses for photographers at the red carpet for the film 'Frankenstein' during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
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Benny Safdie poses for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony of the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (Photo by Alessandra Tarantino/Invision/AP)
VENICE, Italy (AP) — The 82nd Venice Film Festival is coming to a close with an awards ceremony Saturday. The prizes include nods for acting, directing and best picture, called the Golden Lion.
Several directors and actors were on the red carpet before the show, including “The Smashing Machine†director Benny Safdie, “Father Mother Sister Brother†filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, “La Grazia†star Toni Servillo, “Silent Friend†actor Luna Wedler and the
This year’s competition lineup included many possible Oscar heavyweights. Kathryn Bigelow set off a warning shot about nuclear weapons and the apparatus of decision-making with her urgent, and distressingly realistic, thriller
his “Frankenstein,†a sumptuously gothic interpretation of the Mary Shelley classic, with Oscar Isaac portraying Victor Frankenstein as a romantic madman and Jacob Elodri, naive and raw, as the monster.
Park Chan-wook delighted with his darkly comedic a satire about the desperation of white-collar workers competing for jobs.
Dwayne Johnson took a serious turn as a fighter grappling with addiction to painkillers and winner in the MMA/UFC sports drama while Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons are strange and fierce as kidnapped and kidnapper in
moved audiences as an aging movie star and his devoted manager on a soul-searching journey through Europe in “Jay Kelly,†a ruthlessly truthful love letter to Hollywood, in all its ridiculousness and beauty.
Jude Law furrowed his brows as Vladimir Putin in and Amanda Seyfried put a human, feminist, face to the religious sect the shakers in “The Testament of Ann Lee.â€
also flexed her acting muscles as a Yale philosophy professor in the midst of a misconduct accusation against a colleague in “After the Hunt,†but neither she nor her castmates Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri and director, Luca Guadagnino, are eligible for Venice prizes. The film debuted out of competition.
Far from Hollywood, Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, had a late-festival smash with about the 6-year-old girl killed in Gaza, which reportedly got a 22-minute standing ovation. The film is a shattering document of the set entirely inside the dispatch center of the Palestine Red Crescent Society rescue service. It uses the real audio of Hind’s call, while actors portray the first responders.
Both Lanthimos and del Toro have won the Golden Lion before, for “Poor Things†and “The Shape of Water,†respectively. Those films also went on to win top Oscars, including best actress for Stone in “Poor Things,†and best picture and director for del Toro’s “The Shape of Water.â€
Since 2014, the Venice Film Festival has hosted four best picture winners, including “The Shape of Water,†“Birdman,†“Spotlight" and “Nomadland.†Last year, they had several eventual Oscar-winning films in the lineup, including which won three including Walter Salles’ best international feature winner and the animated short “In the Shadow of the Cypress.â€
The previous Golden Lion winner, “The Room Next Door,†a smash at Venice with an 18-minute standing ovation, received no Oscar nominations.
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