Venice 83 opens in September with Clooney and Burstyn Honorary Golden Lions

The 83rd Venice International Film Festival will open on Wednesday, September 2 with an opening ceremony hosted by Greta Scarano and Nicolas Maupas. During the evening, the Honorary Golden Lion will be presented to George Clooney, according to official statements from the Venice Biennale.

The lifetime achievement award will also go to Ellen Burstyn, who will receive her own Golden Lion as part of the same festival. The international jury that will award the festival’s main prizes, including the Golden Lion for Best Film, will be chaired by actress and director Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The festival will run from September 2 to 12, 2026, at the Venice Lido, according to the official calendar released by the Biennale. The available documentation does not specify the full composition of the jury beyond Gyllenhaal’s presidency, nor the film chosen to open the event, nor the list of titles in competition.

The decision to present two lifetime achievement awards in the same edition, given to two figures from different generations and cinematic paths such as Clooney and Burstyn, marks the framework of this year’s opening ceremony, as it emerges from the statements released so far. No direct statements from the two honorees or an extensive official rationale for the recognition are currently available in the collected excerpts.

The news comes from sources that both trace back to the same Venice Biennale statement: it is therefore a single origin, though disseminated through two different outlets; no further independent confirmations are currently available.

The complete official selection program, including films in and out of competition, does not appear among the materials gathered so far and remains to be defined in the Biennale’s upcoming communications ahead of the September opening.