And the winner goes to... ‘Woman Unknown’, as wartime tales dominate 2026 Venice film fest

VENICE, Sept 14 — The Venice Film Festival awarded its top prize on Saturday to a Danish-made drama about a woman trying to hide a wartime relationship with a Nazi — the only feature film with a female director in the competition.

Woman Unknown had been a major talking point of the festival due to its subject matter, which has rarely been explored in film, and because director May el-Toukhy was almost alone as a woman director in the event.

Only one other woman – Israel’s Rachel Szor, co-director of the chilling documentary NAZA about Israel’s war on Gaza – was behind the 21 films vying for prizes at the star-studded closing ceremony in Venice.