May El-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown wins Best Film at the 2026 Venice Film Festival, while Mathilde Arcel and John Malkovich take top acting honoursMay El-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown has won the Golden Lion for Best Film at the 2026 Venice Film Festival, while John Malkovich took the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in Wild Horse Nine. Mathilde Arcel, the star of Woman Unknown, was named Best Actress.The Danish drama, directed by El-Toukhy, follows a young housemaid whose intimate relationship with a German soldier during World War II threatens her future. It was the only film in competition directed solely by a woman.Accepting the festival’s top prize, El-Toukhy thanked jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal for highlighting the lack of equal opportunities for women filmmakers. “Thank you to the jury for this great honour and to you, Maggie, especially for using your voice and shining a light on the lack of equal opportunities for female filmmakers in our industry,” El-Toukhy said.“This film has been incredibly challenging to make financially, logistically, emotionally. And what kept me going was the urgent need to illuminate the unknown women of our common history, to make them known. And especially tonight, I feel like I succeeded in doing just that.”Gyllenhaal had addressed the issue earlier in the festival, saying, “There’s a systemic problem. It’s harder for women to get films financed.”Malkovich received the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his portrayal of an eccentric CIA agent in Wild Horse Nine. The 72-year-old actor, who was filming another project in Montreal and could not attend the ceremony, accepted the award via video.“I am humbled to be chosen for this award, which has been given to so many wonderful actors over the past 83 iterations of the Venice Film Festival,” Malkovich said. He thanked director Martin McDonagh for “writing this lovely screenplay” and for the role, as well as his co-stars, “most especially my sidekick, the great Sam Rockwell”.Arcel won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for Woman Unknown. The win marked her first lead role in a movie, her first film festival appearance and her first film award. “This is my first lead role in a movie, and it’s my first time at a film festival and my first time to win a film award,” Arcel said, adding, “So I’m extremely honoured and feel very lucky to get to do that here in Venice with you, people who I think are the most amazing filmmakers and actresses and actors in the world, I’ve looked up to my entire life. I would pinch myself, but if it’s a dream, I really don’t want to wake up.”Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love won the Grand Jury Prize, the festival’s second-highest competition honour. The South Korean drama follows two married couples from different social classes who will compete for South Korea in the Oscars international feature race.”The Silver Lion for Best Director went to Russian dissident Ilya Khrzhanovsky for DAU, a three-hour-and-15-minute film he has worked on for two decades.