Venice Film Festival

Logo 59.ma Mostra del CinemaThe Venice Film Festival is an exhibition of cinematographic art carried out annually in the lagoon city (usually between the end of the August and the beginning of September) in the historic Cinema Palace, on the Marconi Promenade, in Lido of Venice.

Reaching the 62nd edition in 2005, the exhibition is framed against immense backdrop of the Biennial of Venice, a cultural festival that includes a display of contemporary art. The first edition was held in combination with the 18th Biennial.

The highest award given out – along with various others – is the Golden Lion, deriving its name from the symbol of the city (the lion of the Basilica of San Marco). Such acknowledgment is considered one of the more important from the point of view of the film critic, on par with those awarded in the other two main European film reviews, the Golden Palm of the Cannes Festival and the Golden Bear of Berlin Festival. Together, they comprise three regional awards of great merit, often in competition with the American Oscar, in that two of them generally occur in the spring.

History of the Venice Film Festival

The first edition of the International Venice Film Festival (called 1st International Film Festival of the Art Biennial) was carried out from the 6 to the 21 of August in 1932. Idea for the Venice Film Festival The festival was born of an idea...

Directors of the Festival

Chronological listing of the Venice Film Festival Directors, nominated by the Venice Biennial Director: 1932 - 1934 Luciano De Feo (technical organizer) 1935 - 1942 Ottavio Croze 1946 - 1948 Elio Zorzi 1949 - 1953 Antonio...

The Juries

The Venice Film Festival gives out numerous awards each year such as the "Golden Lion", the "Volpi Cup", the "Grand Jury Award ? Golden Lion", the "Special Award for Direction ? Golden Lion", and the...

Awards and Acknowledgements

During the Venice Film Festival, various awards are given out.