This year, the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, held from August 27 to September 6, 2025, was once again dedicated to presenting the latest works of world cinema along with a selection of classics and timeless films. The festival this year hosted a mix of great filmmakers and new talents. The most important prize of the festival, the Golden Lion for Best Film, went to Jim Jarmusch’s new work, Father Mother Sister Brother, a film that, in the filmmaker’s usual tradition, arises from a poetic and calm look at life and human relationships and earned the admiration of the jury.
The Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize was awarded to The Voice of Hind Rajab, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, a film screened in the main competition that recounts the heartbreaking and breathless moments of a phone call by a Palestinian girl trapped in a bombed-out car, facing the nightmare of life and death. It tells the final moments of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who, on January 29, 2024, survived an Israeli army attack on her family’s car in which all others were killed. Surrounded by the bodies of her relatives under relentless gunfire, she remained alone, helpless, speaking on the phone with the Palestinian Red Crescent, unable to be rescued. This film shook not only the audience but also the jury, sending viewers out of the screening in tears. At the closing ceremony of the festival, when the Silver Lion was announced, the cinema hall erupted in applause that lasted between twenty-two and twenty-three minutes, setting a historic record at Venice and becoming a symbol of global solidarity with the silenced voices of children of war.
An important moment for Iranian cinema in this edition of the festival was the award given to Bashu, the Little Stranger, directed by Bahram Beyzaei. The award was given to the restored version of the film, screened in the “Venice Classics” section after forty years. This success was not only a tribute to Beyzaei’s career but also a reminder of the strength of Iranian cinema in portraying human qualities and the damage of war to the minds and souls of children. Bashu tells the story of a war-stricken child who, in a new land, searches for identity and a new family. Decades later, the film still feels fresh and powerful, and its recognition in Venice showed that timeless works never lose their relevance and can always find new audiences.
Another important moment was the Special Jury Award for Less than Five Grams of Saffron, directed by Negar Mottaghi, an Iranian filmmaker living in Germany. With a poetic and metaphorical vision, the film used the simple element of saffron to depict identity, migration, and the meaning of belonging in a universal language.
This year Venice also awarded its Special Jury Prize to Below the Clouds, directed by Gianfranco Rosi, while the Silver Lion for Best Director went to Benny Safdie for The Smashing Machine. The Volpi Cup for Best Actress was awarded to Xin Zhilei for The Sun Rises on Us All and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor to Toni Servillo for La Grazia. The Marcello Mastroianni Award for best emerging talent went to Luna Wedler for her role in Silent Friend. Two Honorary Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement were presented this year, to Werner Herzog and Kim Novak. The Audience Award went to Calle Málaga, directed by Maryam Touzani, a film about the colors and lives of the people of Gaza. The Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Film was given to Short Summer, directed by Nastia Korkia.
In sum, the 2025 Venice Film Festival, while introducing Jarmusch’s new film as the big winner, will be remembered above all for three films: The Voice of Hind Rajab, which echoed the pain and resistance of Palestine; Bashu, the Little Stranger from Iran, which shone once again on the global stage after decades; and Less than Five Grams of Saffron, which with symbolic language carried the voice of a new generation of Iranian migrant filmmakers to the world.
