Columbia Filmmakers Win at Venice Film Festival
En El Camino (On The Road), a film written and directed by former Film student David Pablos took home the Orizzonti Award for Best Film in the 82nd International Venice Film Festival and took home the honor of the Queer Lion.
The Orizzonti Section–Venice’s counterpart to Cannes’ Un Certain Regard –spotlights daring first or second features by emerging filmmakers to spotlight daring new voices in global independent cinema. The Queer Lion is a collateral award founded in 2007 and awarded to the film that best explores LGBTQ+ themes and queer culture among the festival’s selections.
On The Road follows Veneno, a rebellious young drifter who meets Muñeco, a hard-edged and reserved driver, and joins him in hauling freight across northern Mexico. As they travel together, an unexpected intimacy develops and shadows from Veneno’s past resurface, putting both their lives at risk.
In a statement, the jury called out “the courage of producer Inna Payán in endorsing a project set within a world dominated by a machista subculture marked by violence and homophobia…the audacity of director David Pablos in his portrayal of a carnal, explicit, authentic, and unfiltered sexuality; and…the moving depiction of a pure love that unites two men, two solitudes, and two vulnerabilities that discover one another, embrace one another, and ultimately redeem one another.”
Meanwhile, Columbia filmmakers also shone at the Venice Film Festival's indie offshoot, Giornate degli Autori, where A Sad And Beautiful World was awarded the coveted People's Choice Award in a tie. This Lebanese, multi-generational love story has several Columbia filmmakers on its team, with Cyril Aris '17 directing and co-writing the story with Bane Fakih '19; Mounia Akl '16 starring as one half of the leading couple, and Anna-Nora Bernstein '16 and Katharina Otto-Bernstein '92 executive producing. The film, which Aris also edited himself, was recently acquired for distribution by Paradise City Sales.
"A Sad and Beautiful World was born out of deep love from our cast and crew," said Aris, "during a time when Lebanon was enduring violent upheaval amidst wider regional conflicts. The film navigates the fragile line between sadness and beauty, reflecting the contradictions of our society, where the lust for love and life endures even in the darkest moments.”
See a full list of Venice winners here, and full list of Girnate degli Autori winners here.
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Original: August 8, 2025
A House of Dynamite, a political thriller by acclaimed director and Film alum Kathryn Bigelow '81, will make its world premiere at the 82nd Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2025. The film festival is organized by the Venice Biennale and runs from August 27 to September 6.
A House of Dynamite stars Idris Elba and follows a group of White House officials as they confront an incoming missile attack on the US. The film will be distributed by Netflix and start streaming globally on October 24, but not before competing for the Golden Lion as one of the 21 films eligible for the Venice Film Festival's highest honor.
Bigelow is renowned for her portrayal of military events: she became the first woman ever to win an Academy Award for Best Director with her war epic The Hurt Locker, which also made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in 2008. The Hurt Locker stars Jeremy Renner as a polarizing specialist of disarming improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the early years of the war in Iraq.
Screening out of competition at the Bienanale is Un prophète (A Prophet), a French television series portraying life in a brutal Marseille prison. Sola Fasehun '15 worked on the producing team for this series adapted from Jacques Audiard's film masterpiece of the same name.
More Columbia alums are debuting their film A Sad and Beautiful World at the Venice Film Festival's indie offshoot, Giornate degli Autori. A Sad and Beautiful World is the first feature film of Directing alum Cyril Aris '17. Aris co-wrote the film, in which a decadal love story mirrors the soaring highs and devastating lows of Lebanese statehood, with Bane Fakih '19. It stars Film alum Mounia Akl '16 and Hasan Akil as the leading couple. Anna-Nora Bernstein '16 and Katharina Otto-Bernstein '92 executive produced the film. Aris edited A Sad and Beautiful World himself.
“The film navigates the fragile line between sadness and beauty, reflecting the contradictions of our society, where the lust for love and life endures even in the darkest moments,” Aris told Variety.
Giornate degli Autori also runs from August 27 to September 6. A Sad and Beautiful World is one of ten films selected for competition. Read about the full lineup here. The Venice Film Festival includes in- and out-of-competition lineups, classic screenings and cutting-edge films. Learn more here. Tickets to the 82nd Venice Film Festival can be purchased here.
