---
title: "Venice 2026: May el-Touhy's 'Woman Unknown' Takes the Golden Lion, While Mathilde Arsel Wins the Volpi Cup"
description: "May el-Touhy's film 'Woman Unknown' won the Golden Lion at the 2026 Venice Film Festival. Mathilde Arsel was honored with the Volpi Cup for Best Actress."
date: 2026-09-13T07:42:02.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/venice-2026-woman-unknown-golden-lion
tags: [venice-film-festival, golden-lion, woman-unknown, may-el-toukhy, cinema-awards]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Venice 2026: May el-Touhy's 'Woman Unknown' Takes the Golden Lion, While Mathilde Arsel Wins the Volpi Cup

![Poster for 'Woman Unknown' by May El-Touhgy, winner of the 2026 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/13/venetsiya-2026-neizvestnaya-zhenshchina-zolotoy-lev/venetsiya-2026-neizvestnaya-zhenshchina-zolotoy-lev-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- May el-Touhy's 'Woman Unknown' won the Golden Lion at the 2026 Venice Film Festival; the director became the eighth woman to receive this award.
- Mathilde Arsel received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for the same film.
- The Jury Grand Prix went to Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love', while the Silver Lion for Direction went to Ilya Khrzhanovsky for 'DAU'.
- The documentary 'NAZA' by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Shorr received a special jury prize in the main competition program.

The awards ceremony of the 83rd Venice Film Festival, which closed on 12 September 2026, was marked by a distinctly female directorial gaze. The evening's headline event was the Danish-Swedish-Latvian co-production 'Woman Unknown', which was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Film. The film was directed by May el-Touhy, who thereby joined the exclusive circle of directors to have received the biennale's top prize and became the eighth woman in the festival's history to be so honored. At the same time, the actress playing the lead role, Mathilde Arsel, received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, making the film a double winner in the main competition.

### A story about a war that will not let go

The action of 'Woman Unknown' unfolds in Denmark in the years immediately following the Second World War. At the center of the story is Marie, a young woman working as a nanny and housekeeper for the wealthy widower Christian, whom she intends to marry. The marriage promises her the status of mistress of the house, yet Marie harbors a secret: during the war she had a romantic relationship with a German soldier. When the past returns, the heroine must find a way to protect the life she is trying to build. Behind Marie's personal story, as intended by the filmmakers, lies a broader issue — the fate of women in war and the prejudices that, despite the historical distance, remain relevant in modern society.

### The jury and the competition lineup

The 2026 Venice Film Festival ran from 2 to 12 September, and 21 films competed for the top prize. The jury was chaired by the American director, actress, screenwriter and producer Maggie Gyllenhaal; its members also included Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Gagnoli, Shahrbanu Sadat and Johnny To. A notable fact, emphasized in reports from the ceremony: May el-Touhy was the only female director among the 21 Golden Lion contenders who worked without a co-director. The only other film in the competition shot with the involvement of a female director was 'NAZA' by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Shorr.

### The full picture of the awards

In addition to the Golden Lion and the Volpi Cup, the jury distributed the remaining prizes of the main competition. The Jury Grand Prix (the Silver Lion) went to the film 'Possible Love' by South Korean director Lee Chang-dong. The Silver Lion for Best Direction was awarded to Ilya Khrzhanovsky for 'DAU', a co-production of Germany, France and Sweden. The Best Screenplay prize was presented to Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amedeo and Olivier Gorset for 'Un bon petit soldat' ('A Good Little Soldier'). The Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor was given to Malu Hebizi for her role in '15/18' ('A Place Where One Can Heal'). The Venice Spotlight (Armani Beauty) Audience Award was given to 'I Matter' ('Eu contez') by director Alina Șerban, while the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a First Film went to 'La maison du vent' ('The House of the Wind') by Auguste Bernard Cuoem Yanghu.

### 'NAZA' and war as a theme of the times

The documentary 'NAZA', directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Shorr and produced by The Guardian and JW Films in the United Kingdom, received a special jury prize in the main competition program. The award became one of the festival's main events: the film about the war in the Gaza Strip was recognized in the main competition program, adding a contemporary dimension to Venice 2026. Together with 'Woman Unknown', which explores the wounds inflicted by war on women, 'NAZA' made the rethinking of war and its consequences — from historical, social and humanitarian perspectives — the through-line theme of this year's Venice.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Venice Film Festival 2026: Wins that reflect the spirit of the times.](https://www.vietnam.vn/ru/lhp-venice-2026-nhung-chien-thang-mang-dau-an-thoi-cuoc) - Подтверждает даты фестиваля (2–12 сентября 2026), состав жюри под председательством Мэгги Джилленхол и список наград.
- [Who won at the Venice Film Festival 2026](https://www.metronews.ru/novosti/kyltyra/kino/reviews/kto-pobedil-na-venecianskom-kinofestivale-2026-2191847/) - Совпадает по лауреатам основного конкурса: «Золотой лев» — «Неизвестная женщина», Гран-при — «Возможная любовь», режиссура — «ДАУ».
- [Venice's 'Golden Lion' goes to a single, unknown woman](https://kino.rambler.ru/movies/57057470-venetsianskiy-zolotoy-lev-dostalsya-edinstvennoy-i-neizvestnoy-zhenschine/) - Подтверждает статус Мэй эль-Тухи как единственной женщины-режиссёра в конкурсе без соавторства и восьмой женщины с «Золотым львом».
- [The laureates of the Venice Film Festival are revealed](https://www.kinometro.ru/news/show/name/venice2026_winners_13092026) - Совпадает по полным спискам наград, включая Кубок Вольпи для Матильды Арсель и специальный приз жюри для «НАЗА».

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: Which film won the Golden Lion at the 2026 Venice Film Festival?
**A:** The Golden Lion for Best Film went to 'Woman Unknown' by director May el-Touhy — a co-production of Denmark, Sweden and Latvia.

### Q: Who chaired the Venice 2026 jury?
**A:** The jury was chaired by the American director, actress, screenwriter and producer Maggie Gyllenhaal; its members also included Kaouther Ben Hania, Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Gagnoli, Shahrbanu Sadat and Johnny To.

### Q: Who received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress?
**A:** The Volpi Cup for Best Actress was awarded to Mathilde Arsel for her role in the film 'Woman Unknown'.

### Q: What is known about the plot of 'Woman Unknown'?
**A:** The story unfolds in Denmark after the Second World War. The protagonist Marie, a nanny and housekeeper for the widower Christian, is preparing to marry him but hides a secret about a romance with a German soldier during the war.

### Q: What other prizes were awarded in the main competition?
**A:** The Jury Grand Prix (Silver Lion) went to Lee Chang-dong's 'Possible Love', the Silver Lion for Direction to Ilya Khrzhanovsky for 'DAU', the screenplay prize to Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amedeo and Olivier Gorset for 'Un bon petit soldat', and the special jury prize to the documentary 'NAZA'.