The 83rd Venice International Film Festival wraps up tonight, but its most talked-about moments arrived early. Rather than handing out a single Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement this year, the festival gave out two, one to George Clooney and one to Ellen Burstyn, bookending a ten-day run on the Lido that closes with Giovanni Veronesi’s God Laughs.
Clooney’s Night
Clooney received his Golden Lion at the opening ceremony on September 2, with his wife Amal by his side. Artistic director Alberto Barbera, who recommends the honorees, praised him as an artist working across acting, directing, and producing whose career has become one of contemporary film’s more luminous arcs. Clooney, for his part, kept things characteristically light, calling Venice his favorite festival and joking that being handed a lifetime achievement award “probably means I’m old”.
It’s not an unearned honor. Between Syriana, Good Night and Good Luck, and this year’s presence at the festival with Jay Kelly, Clooney’s had a run few actors-turned-filmmakers can match, and Venice has been a recurring stop on that path for two decades.
Burstyn’s Masterclass
Ellen Burstyn’s Golden Lion followed on September 7, and came with an added event: a masterclass on September 8 moderated by critic Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, live-streamed for anyone not on the Lido. Burstyn’s career stretches back to the New Hollywood era, and giving her the same honor as Clooney in the same edition put two very different eras of American film acting on the same stage.
The Rest of the Field
Beyond the two lifetime honors, Venice handed director Luca Guadagnino its Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker award for 2026, recognizing a body of work that’s made him one of the festival’s most consistent presences in recent years.
The main event, though, the Golden Lion for Best Film, is still up in the air as of this writing. That decision rests with a jury led by Maggie Gyllenhaal, joined by Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat, and Johnnie To, and it won’t be announced until tonight’s closing ceremony. The festival opened this year with Ink and has run its main competition slate through September 12, so whichever film takes the top prize will have had a full ten days of Lido buzz behind it before the trophy is even handed over.
What This Means
Two Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement in one edition is unusual, Venice typically gives one, and it says something about how the festival is positioning itself this year: less about crowning a single moment and more about stretching the spotlight across a wider range of careers. Expect full coverage once tonight’s Best Film winner is announced.
