Silver Lion

• Name — Silver Lion • Subheader — Leone d'argento • Location — Venice • Country — Italy • Awarded For — Best Direction • Presenter — Venice Film Festival • Holder — Ilya Khrzhanovsky for DAU (2026) • Year — 1953 • Website — labiennale.org/en/cinema The Silver Lion (Leone d'argento, 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. Russian filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky was the most recent winner for DAU (2026), at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.

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. Russian filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky is the only person to receive the award twice, for The Postman's White Nights (2014) and (2016). Notable winners include: Emir, Lee, Alain, Brian, Paul Thomas, Jacques, Roy, and Jane.

• Illustration — Martin won for Goodfellas (1990) • Illustration — Paul Thomas won for The Master (2012) • Illustration — Andrei won twice for The Postman's White Nights (2014) and (2016) • Illustration — Jane won for The Power of the Dog (2021) • Illustration — Brady Corbet won for The Brutalist (2024). • Illustration — Benny Safdie won for The Smashing Machine (2025)

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title • 1990 — Martin • 1998 — Emir — Crna mačka, beli mačor • 1999 — Zhang

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title • 2000 — Buddhadeb — Uttara • 2001 — Babak — Ra'ye makhfi • 2002 — Lee — Oasiseu • 2003 — Takeshi — Zatôichi • 2004 — Kim • 2005 — Philippe • 2006 — Alain • 2007 — Brian • 2008 — Aleksei Alekseivich — Bumazhnyy soldat • 2009 — Shirin — Zanan-e bedun-e mardan

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title • 2010 — Álex • 2011 — Cai • 2012 — Paul Thomas • 2013 — Alexandros • 2014 — Andrei — Belye nochi pochtalona Alekseya Tryapitsyna • 2015 — Pablo • 2016 — Amat • Andrei • 2017 — Xavier • 2018 — Jacques • 2019 — Roy

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title • 2020 — Kiyoshi — Supai no tsuma • 2021 — Jane • 2022 — Luca • 2023 — Matteo • 2024 — Brady • 2025 — Benny • 2026 — Ilya Khrzhanovsky — DAU

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)

• Year — English title — Original title — Director(s) — Production country • 1981 — Do You Remember Dolly Bell? — Сјећаш ли се Доли Бел? — Emir Kusturica — Yugoslavia • 1982 — Sciopèn — Luciano Odorisio — Italy • The Hes Case — De smaak van water — Orlow Seunke — Netherlands

• Year — Screenwriter — English title — Original title — Production country • 1990 — Helle Ryslinge — Sirup — Denmark

• Year — English title — Original title — Director — Production country • 2006 — Golden Door — Nuovomondo — Emanuele Crialese — Italy

• Year — English title — Original title — Director(s) — Production country • 1983 — Sugar Cane Alley — La Rue Cases-Nègres — Euzhan Palcy — France • 1984 — Sonatine — Micheline Lanctôt — Canada • 1985 — Dust — Marion Hänsel — Belgium, France • 1986 — A King and His Movie — La película del rey — Carlos Sorín — Argentina

• Year — Original title — Director • 1996 — O Tamaiti — Sima Urale • 1999 — Portrait of a Young Man Drowning — Teboho Mahlatsi • 2000 — A Telephone Call for Genevieve Snow — Peter Long • 2001 — Freunde — Jan Krüger • 2002 — Clown — Irina Evteeva • 2003 — Neft — Murad Ibragimbekov • 2004 — Signe d'appartenance — Kamel Cherif • 2005 — Xiaozhan — Chien-ping Lin • 2006 — Comment on freine dans une descente? — Alix Delaporte • 2007 — Dog Altogether — Paddy Considine