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Silver Lion
Venice Film Festival award
Venice Film Festival award
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Silver Lion |
| subheader | it |
| image | Benny Safdie at 82nd Venice International Film Festival-5.jpg |
| caption | 2025 recipient: Benny Safdie |
| location | Venice |
| country | Italy |
| awarded_for | Best Direction |
| presenter | Venice Film Festival |
| holder | Benny Safdie for The Smashing Machine (2025) |
| year | 1953 |
| website |
The Silver Lion (, also known as Silver Lion for Best Direction) is an annual award presented for best directing achievements in a feature film in the official competition section of the Venice Film Festival since 1998.
The prize has been awarded irregularly and has gone through several changes of purpose. Between 1953 and 1994, the award was given infrequently to a number of films as second prize for those nominated for the Golden Lion. At various times, the Silver Lion has also been awarded for debut films, short films, direction, and writing.
Since 1990, the Silver Lion has been presented to the director of a feature film in the official competition; Martin Scorsese was the first official winner of the award for Goodfellas, while Benny Safdie is the most recent winner for The Smashing Machine in 2025. Andrei Konchalovsky is the only person to receive the award twice.
Silver Lion for Best Direction (1990–present)
1990s
2000s
| Year | Director | English Title | Original Title | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| {{sortname | Lee | Chang-dong | Lee, Chang-dong}} | ||||||||||||
| {{sortname | Kim | Ki-duk | Kim, Ki-duk}} |
2010s
| Year | Director | English Title | Original Title | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| {{sortname | Cai | Shangjun | Cai, Shangjun}} |
2020s
Multiple Winners
The following individuals received two or more Silver Lion for Best Direction awards:
| Number of Wins | Director | Nationality | Films | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrei Konchalovsky | Russia | The Postman's White Nights (2014) and Paradise (2016) |
Defunct Categories
Silver Lion Prize (1953–1994)
From 1953 to 1957, the Silver Lion was awarded to a number of films nominated for the Golden Lion as a second prize. From 1987 to 1994, the Silver Lion was awarded to one or more films nominated for the Golden Lion.
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1957 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Fugitive | Raymond Abrashkin, Morris Engel, and Ruth Orkin | |||||||||||||
| Moulin Rouge | John Huston | |||||||||||||
| Sadko | Садко | Aleksandr Ptushko | ||||||||||||
| Thérèse Raquin | Marcel Carné | |||||||||||||
| Ugetsu | 雨月物語 | Kenji Mizoguchi | ||||||||||||
| I Vitelloni | Federico Fellini | |||||||||||||
| On the Waterfront | Elia Kazan | |||||||||||||
| Sansho the Bailiff | 山椒大夫 | Kenji Mizoguchi | ||||||||||||
| Seven Samurai | 七人の侍 | Akira Kurosawa | ||||||||||||
| La Strada | Federico Fellini | |||||||||||||
| Le Amiche | Michelangelo Antonioni | |||||||||||||
| The Big Knife | Robert Aldrich | |||||||||||||
| Ciske the Rat | Ciske de Rat | Wolfgang Staudte | ||||||||||||
| The Grasshopper | Попрыгунья | Samson Samsonov | ||||||||||||
| White Nights | Le Notti Bianche | Luchino Visconti | ||||||||||||
| Maurice | James Ivory | |||||||||||||
| Long Live the Lady! | Lunga vita alla signora! | Ermanno Olmi | ||||||||||||
| Landscape in the Mist | Τοπίο στην ομίχλη | Theo Angelopoulos | ||||||||||||
| Death of a Tea Master | 千利休 本覺坊遺文 | Kei Kumai | ||||||||||||
| Recollections of the Yellow House | Recordações da Casa Amarela | João César Monteiro | ||||||||||||
| The Fisher King | Terry Gilliam | |||||||||||||
| J'entends plus la guitare | Philippe Garrel | |||||||||||||
| Raise the Red Lantern | 大紅燈籠高高掛 | Zhang Yimou | ||||||||||||
| A Heart in Winter | Un cœur en hiver | Claude Sautet | ||||||||||||
| Jamón jamón | Bigas Luna | |||||||||||||
| Luxury Hotel | Hotel de lux | Dan Pița | ||||||||||||
| Kosh ba kosh | Кош-ба-кош | Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov | ||||||||||||
| Heavenly Creatures | Peter Jackson | |||||||||||||
| Little Odessa | James Gray | |||||||||||||
| The Bull | Carlo Mazzacurati |
Silver Lion for Best First Work (1981–1982)
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country | 1981 | 1982 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do You Remember Dolly Bell? | Сјећаш ли се Доли Бел? | Emir Kusturica | Yugoslavia | |||
| Sciopèn | Luciano Odorisio | Italy | ||||
| The Hes Case | De smaak van water | Orlow Seunke | Netherlands |
Silver Lion for Best First Film (1983–1987)
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar Cane Alley | La Rue Cases-Nègres | Euzhan Palcy | France | |||||
| Sonatine | Micheline Lanctôt | Canada | ||||||
| Dust | Marion Hänsel | Belgium, France | ||||||
| A King and His Movie | La película del rey | Carlos Sorín | Argentina |
Silver Lion for Best Screenplay (1990)
| Year | Screenwriter | English title | Original title | Production country | 1990 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helle Ryslinge | Sirup | Denmark |
Silver Lion for Best Short Film (1996–2007)
| Year | Original title | Director | 1996 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O Tamaiti | Sima Urale | |||||||||||
| Portrait of a Young Man Drowning | Teboho Mahlatsi | |||||||||||
| A Telephone Call for Genevieve Snow | Peter Long | |||||||||||
| Freunde | Jan Krüger | |||||||||||
| Clown | Irina Evteeva | |||||||||||
| Neft | Murad Ibragimbekov | |||||||||||
| Signe d'appartenance | Kamel Cherif | |||||||||||
| Xiaozhan | Chien-ping Lin | |||||||||||
| Comment on freine dans une descente? | Alix Delaporte | |||||||||||
| Dog Altogether | Paddy Considine |
Silver Lion for Revelation (2006)
| Year | English title | Original title | Director | Production country | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Door | Nuovomondo | Emanuele Crialese | Italy |
References
References
- (28 June 2013). "Venice Film Festival 1982 (Competition) – 39ª Mostra internazionale d'arte cinematografica di Venezia". letterboxd.com.
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