Venice Film Festival 2025: Golden Lion to ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ by Jim Jarmusch

“Father Mother Sister Brother,” Jim Jarmusch’s relationship triptych, won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival 2025. The film about the relationships between adult children and their parents stars Adam Driver, Vicky Krieps and Cate Blanchett.

Jarmusch noted it was a surprise choice and thanked the festival for recognising his “quiet film.”

Kaouther Ben Hania’s Gaza docudrama “The Voice of Hind Rajab” won the Silver Lion, the runner-up prize. The film is about an attempt to rescue a 6-year-old girl from a bullet-ridden call in Gaza City in January 2024 and uses the real audio from her call to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The movie received a 21-minute standing ovation after its premiere.

The Alexander Payne-led jury named Chinese actor Xin Zhilei best actress for leading Cai Shangjun’s “The Sun Rises on Us All,” a story about a love triangle set in the world of sweatshops in Guangzhou. Italian actor Toni Servillo won best actor for playing a president at the end of his term in Paolo Sorrentino's “La Grazia.”

Benny Safdie took the best director prize for his Mark Kerr MMA biopic “The Smashing Machine.”

Valérie Donzelli and Gilles Marchand were recognised with the best screenplay for their gig economy drama “At Work,” a French film about a successful photographer who gives up everything to focus on writing, and ends up in poverty.

The special jury prize went to Italian filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi for his lyrical Naples documentary “Below the Clouds.”