The closing night of the 82nd Venice Film Festival, on Saturday, September 6, was marked by a symbolic moment. When The Voice of Hind Rajab was announced as the winner of the Grand Jury Prize, the entire audience rose to its feet, giving Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania a standing ovation. A few minutes later, American filmmaker Jim Jarmusch did not receive the same honor when collecting the Golden Lion, Venice's most prestigious award.
In a move that surprised many, the jury chaired by Alexander Payne awarded the Golden Lion to Father Mother Sister and Brother, a film that brought a joyful counterpoint to a competition dominated by anger, moralizing speeches, and crises of identity. Many of the other feature films ran well over two hours, weighed down by unnecessary plot convolutions. The 2025 Golden Lion went to what Jarmusch himself called a "quiet" work, seemingly modest in scope.
This collection of three minimalist family reunion stories has a biting, sharp edge – funny and light – particularly in the first two segments, which feature a star-studded cast (Adam Driver, Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Rampling, and others) and explore the awkwardness of afternoons when parents and grown children attempt to play at being a family again. The third part shifts to a more tender relationship between twins, moving away from a pure stylistic exercise to touch on surprising emotional depth. This Golden Lion marked the first major festival prize for Jarmusch, a perennial outsider in American cinema.
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