| Silver Lion | |
|---|---|
| Leone d'argento (Italian) | |
 2025 recipient: Benny Safdie | |
| Awarded for | Best Direction |
| Location | Venice |
| Country | Italy |
| Presented by | Venice Film Festival |
| First award | 1953 |
| Currently held by | Benny Safdie for The Smashing Machine (2025) |
| Website | labiennale |
The Silver Lion (Italian: 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.
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, while Benny Safdie is the most recent winner for The Smashing Machine in 2025.
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| Year | Director | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 |  Martin Scorsese
|
Goodfellas | |
| 1998 |  Emir Kusturica
|
Black Cat, White Cat | Црна мачка, бели мачор |
| 1999 |  Zhang Yuan
|
Seventeen Years | 過年回家 |
| Year | Director | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 |  Buddhadeb Dasgupta
|
Uttara | উত্তরা |
| 2001 |  Babak Payami
|
Secret Ballot | رأی مخفی |
| 2002 |  Lee Chang-dong
|
Oasis | 오아시스 |
| 2003 |  Takeshi Kitano
|
Zatōichi | 座頭市 |
| 2004 | Kim Ki-duk
|
3-Iron | 빈집 |
| 2005 |  Philippe Garrel
|
Regular Lovers | Les Amants réguliers |
| 2006 | Alain Resnais
|
Private Fears in Public Places | Cœurs |
| 2007 | Brian De Palma
|
Redacted | |
| 2008 |  Aleksei Alekseivich German
|
Paper Soldier | Бумажный солдат |
| 2009 | Shirin Neshat
|
Women Without Men | زنان بدون مردان |
| Year | Director | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 |  Álex de la Iglesia
|
The Last Circus | Balada triste de trompeta |
| 2011 | Cai Shangjun
|
People Mountain People Sea | 人山人海 |
| 2012 | Paul Thomas Anderson
|
The Master | |
| 2013 |  Alexandros Avranas
|
Miss Violence | |
| 2014 | Andrei Konchalovsky
|
The Postman's White Nights | Белые ночи почтальона Алексея Тряпицына |
| 2015 |  Pablo Trapero
|
The Clan | El Clan |
| 2016 | /  Amat Escalante
|
The Untamed | La región salvaje |
| Andrei Konchalovsky
|
Paradise | Рай | |
| 2017 | Xavier Legrand
|
Custody | Jusqu'à la garde |
| 2018 | Jacques Audiard
|
The Sisters Brothers | |
| 2019 |  Roy Andersson
|
About Endlessness | Om det oändliga |
| Year | Director | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Kiyoshi Kurosawa
|
Wife of a Spy | スパイの妻 |
| 2021 |  Jane Campion
|
The Power of the Dog | |
| 2022 |  Luca Guadagnino
|
Bones and All | |
| 2023 | Matteo Garrone
|
Io Capitano | |
| 2024 | Brady Corbet
|
The Brutalist | |
| 2025 | Benny Safdie
|
The Smashing Machine | |
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) |
From 1953 to 1957, the Silver Lion was awarded to a number of films nominated for the Golden Lion as a second prize. From 1988 to 1994, the Silver Lion was awarded to one or more films nominated for the Golden Lion.
| Year[1] | 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 | 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 |
| 1987 | Maurice | James Ivory | United Kingdom | |
| Year | Screenwriter | English Title | Original Title | Production Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Helle Ryslinge | Sirup | Denmark | |
| 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 |
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Production Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Nuovomondo | Emanuele Crialese | Italy | |
