Venice Film Festival 2026: Clooney, Burstyn Win Top Honor
Venice gave out its highest honor twice this week, to two actors who've never shared a film. George Clooney received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement on the festival's opening night, September 2. Ellen Burstyn received the same award five days later, on September 7, and on Tuesday she taught a public masterclass on the Lido that streamed live to anyone with an internet connection.
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival runs September 2-12 on the Venice Lido, and this year's edition has leaned unusually American in its marquee moments. Clooney, accepting his Golden Lion, called the festival his favorite: "I've had so many extraordinary moments in Venice." Burstyn's award followed four days later, alongside a Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker prize for director Luca Guadagnino. Her Tuesday masterclass, moderated by critic Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan, was open to festival badge-holders and livestreamed on the Biennale's own site - a format the festival has used with past lifetime honorees to turn a ceremony into a working session on craft.
The main competition carries the same American through-line. Robert Pattinson leads Lance Oppenheim's "Primetime," which premiered with a red-carpet lineup that included Merritt Wever and Phoebe Bridgers. Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem star in Florian Zeller's "Bunker." Werner Herzog's "Bucking Fastard" brought out Kate Mara, Rooney Mara, Domhnall Gleeson and Orlando Bloom for its premiere. Andrea Pallaoro's "The Echo Chamber," which screened September 6, drew Susan Sarandon and Alicia Vikander to the same red carpet. None of the 21 competition titles has been confirmed as a Golden Lion frontrunner; American actress and director Maggie Gyllenhaal is presiding over the jury that will decide.
The red carpet itself has run more restrained than usual, with black gowns dominating opening week - jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal in a tailored suit on day one, Amal Clooney in a custom Tom Ford design with straps left deliberately loose at the shoulder. The exceptions stood out for it: Kendall Jenner made her Venice debut in an archival gold Armani gown pulled from the house's fall 1995 collection, and Phoebe Bridgers, in Venice for "Primetime," wore Alexander McQueen to the premiere. None of it has produced the kind of single defining image the festival sometimes generates - this year's story so far is the honorees, not the clothes.
For a U.S. audience, the festival's real relevance arrives after it ends. Venice has spent the last several years functioning as the informal opening bell of Oscar season - a launch pad where a strong reception on the Lido turns into a fall and winter campaign. Films premiering this week won't have distributor plans, reviews aggregated, or awards-season positioning locked in until the festival closes; what's happening now is closer to the first read of the room.
The Golden Lion for Best Film will be announced September 12, following the festival's closing film, Giovanni Veronesi's "God Laughs." Whichever title wins carries that result directly into a fall calendar already shaping up around several of this week's premieres.
