The Golden Lion (or Leone d'Oro) is the main prize given at the Venice Film Festival and is, as may be obvious, a golden lion but with wings.
The award was given out as Best Feature Film at the first post-war Venice festival in 1946, and then the Grand International Prize of Venice over the next two years. In 1949 the trophy was changed to the "Golden Lion of Saint Mark
", namely the iconic winged lion, and the trophy's name was simplified to "Golden Lion" in 1954. There was a pause in the handout of the lions from 1969 through 1979 after the 1968 cultural revolution — traditional awards appeared somewhat obsolete. Additionally, the film by Alexander Kluge that won it in 1968 was supposedly so radical that it embarrassed the jury themselves. The award made its return only with the arrival of the 80's when indifference and camp stepped in.
Several directors have in the past won a Golden Lion twice, including André Cayatte (1950; 1960), Louis Malle (1980; 1987), Zhang Yimou (1992; 1999), Manoel de Oliveira (1985; 2004), and Ang Lee (2005; 2007).
Winners of a Leone d'Oro
- 1946 The Southerner
- 1947 The Strike
- 1948 Hamlet
- 1949 Manon
- 1950 Justice est faite (Justice is Done)
- 1951 Rashomon
- 1952 Forbidden Games
- 1954 Romeo and Juliet
- 1955 Ordet
- 1957 Aparajito
- 1958 The Rickshaw Man
- 1959 General Della Rovere
- ex aequo with The Great War
- 1960 Le passage du Rhin (Tomorrow Is My Turn)
- 1961 Last Year at Marienbad
- 1962 Ivan's Childhood
- ex aequo with Cronaca familiare (Family Diary)
- 1963 Le mani sulla città (Hands over the City)
- 1964 Il deserto rosso
- 1965 Sandra
- 1966 The Battle of Algiers
- 1967 Belle de Jour
- 1968 Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: ratlos
- 1980 Atlantic City
- ex aequo with Gloria
- 1981 Die Bleierne Zeit (Marianne and Juliane)
- 1982 Der Stand der Dinge (The State of Things)
- 1983 Prénom Carmen (First Name: Carmen)
- 1984 Rok spokojnego słońca (A Year of the Quiet Sun)
- 1985 Vagabond
- 1986 Le rayon vert (The Green Ray/Summer)
- 1987 Au revoir les enfants
- 1988 La leggenda del santo bevitore (The Legend of the Holy Drinker)
- 1989 A City of Sadness
- 1990 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
- 1991 Urga (Close to Eden)
- 1992 The Story of Qiu Ju
- 1993 Three Colors: Blue
- ex aequo with Short Cuts
- 1994 Vive L'Amour
- ex aequo with Before the Rain (Пред дождот, Pred doždot)
- 1995 Xich lo (Cyclo)
- 1996 Michael Collins
- 1997 Fireworks
- 1998 Così ridevano (The Way We Laughed)
- 1999 Not One Less
- 2000 The Circle
- 2001 Monsoon Wedding
- 2002 The Magdalene Sisters
- 2003 The Return
- 2004 Vera Drake
- 2005 Brokeback Mountain
- 2006 Still Life
- 2007 Lust, Caution
- 2008 The Wrestler
- 2009 Lebanon
- 2010 Somewhere
- 2011 Faust
- 2012 Pietà
- 2013 Sacro GRA (Holy GRA)
- 2014 A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
- 2015 Desde allá (From Afar)
- 2016 The Woman Who Left
- 2017 The Shape of Water
- 2018 Roma
- 2019 Joker
- 2020 Nomadland
- 2021 Happening
- 2022 All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
- 2023 Poor Things
