Danish filmmaker May el-Toukhy celebrated her Gold Lion win for "Woman Unknown" at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday (September 12) with its star Mathilde Arcel, who also took the prize for best actress in a rare double victory.

South Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong took the runner-up Silver Lion award for "Promised Love", while Russian-born filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky won best director for "DAU," a hugely ambitious project shot largely in Ukraine before the ongoing war that has attracted intense scrutiny and controversy.

"NAZA", a hard-hitting documentary by Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, won the Special Jury Prize.

Stephane Brize, Coralie Amedeo and Olivier Gorce received the screenplay award for their well-received French workplace drama "A Good Little Soldier," while Malou Khebizi was named as best emerging young actor for her role in another well-received French production -- "A Place To Heal."

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VENICE, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 12, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. PHOTOGRAPHERS / FILMMAKER AND GOLDEN LION WINNER MAY EL-TOUKHY POSING FOR CAMERAS WITH WINNER FOR BEST ACTRESS MATHILDE ARCEL

2. EL-TOUKHY AND ARCEL TURNING AND POSING BACK TO BACK /

3. PHOTOGRAPHERS

4. EL-TOUKHY AND ARCEL POSING WITH AWARDS

5. ARCEL / EL-TOUKHY

6. ARCEL AND EL-TOUKHY TURNING AND POSING FOR CAMERAS WITH AWARDS

7. EL-TOUKHY WALKING ALONG RED CARPET / SITTING ON CARPET AND POSING WITH GOLDEN LION

8. VARIOUS OF ARCEL KISSING COPPA VOLPI AWARD

9. ARCEL POSING WITH AWARD

10. GOLDEN LION / EL-TOUKHY STANDING AND POSING FROM CAMERAS

11. EL-TOUKHY HOLDING AWARD

12. VARIOUS OF FILMMAKERS YUVAL ABRAHAM AND RACHEL SZOR STANDING FOR CAMERAS HOLDING JURY PRIZE AWARD

13. PHOTOGRAPHERS

14. VARIOUS OF FILMMAKER LEE CHANG-DONG POSING ON RED CARPET WITH RUNNE-UP SILVER LION AWARD

15. VARIOUS OF FILMMAKER ILYA KHRZHANOVSKY POSING WITH AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR

16. VARIOUS OF ACTOR MALOU KHEBIZI POSING WITH EMERGING ACTOR AWARD

17. FILMMAKER STEPHANE BRIZE (CENTRE) AND SCREENWRITERS CORALIE AMEDEO (LEFT) AND OLIVIER GORCE (RIGHT) POSING WITH SCREENPLAY AWARD

18. LALEH MARZBAN ON RED CARPET WITH ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS

19. RICCARDO SCAMARCIO ON RED CARPET WITH ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR / POSING WITH SCREENWRITER DAMIANO FEMFERT (LEFT) AND FILMMAKER TOMASSO LANDUCCI (CENTRE) / FILMMAKERS ANN SIROT AND RAPHAEL BALBONI STANDING FURTHER DOWN RED CARPET

20. FILMMAKERS ANN SIROT AND RAPHAEL BALBONI POSING WITH ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST FILM

21. FILMMAKER SHADEN SAFIEDDINE TAZI POSING WITH ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM

22. FILMMAKER JACQUELINE LENTZOU POSING WITH ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR

23. SCAMARCIO HOLDING UP AWARD

24. GIAN LUCA FARINELLI (LEFT), DIRECTOR OF THE CINETECA DI BOLOGNA, POSES WITH THE VENEZIA CLASSICI AWARD FOR BEST RESTORED FILM

25. PHOTOGRAPHERS

26. (L-R) ACTOR, ALINA SERBAN POSING WITH SPOTLIGHT AUDIENCE AWARD, PRODUCER ADA SOLOMON

27. DIRECTOR NONNY DE LA PENA (SECOND TO LEFT) AND RORY MITCHELL (SECOND TO RIGHT) AND TWO GUESTS POSING WITH THE VENICE IMMERSIVE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE

28. PHOTOGRAPHERS

29. SHIXIN TAO, YUQI ZHANG AND QIUYU WANG, WINNERS OF THE VENICE IMMERSIVE GRAND PRIZE

30. JESSE GARRISON (RIGHT) AND PETER FLAHERTY (LEFT) POSING WITH VENICE IMMERSIVE ACHIEVEMENT PRIZE / WINNERS ON RED CARPET

31. FILMMAKER AUGUSTE BERNARD KOUEMO YANGHU (RIGHT), WINNER OF SPECIAL ORIZZONTI JURY PRIZE, HOLDING AWARDS