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Venice 2020: the 10 best films at the festival, from Chloé Zhao’s Golden Lion winner Nomadland to Vanessa Kirby’s star turn in Pieces of a Woman

  • Unlike 2019’s divisive winner Joker, Nomadland was rapturously received by the critics and the jury, led by Cate Blanchett
  • Vanessa Kirby is sensational in Pieces of a Woman; Listen is probably the best British film this year; while Nowhere Special is truly heartbreaking

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Frances McDormand in a still from Nomadland, one of the picks on our list of the 10 best films of this year’s Venice film festival.
James Mottram

Being the first physical film festival to take place since the Covid-19 pandemic, all eyes were on this year’s event in Venice.

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Huge credit is due to artistic director Alberto Barbera and his team, for they pulled it off. Temperature checks, mandatory mask-wearing, socially distanced screenings, even a big wall blocking off the red carpet to stop crowds gathering – everything possible was done to keep festivalgoers safe.

While there were fewer films and A-list stars than usual, the festival still had a surprising amount to offer, with the sidebar sections – Venice Days, Horizons and so on – filled with unexpected treats.

Here are our picks for the 10 best films that played in this year’s festival:

Nomadland

The festival truly saved the best until last. Unveiled on the final Friday, in parallel with its Toronto International Film Festival premiere, the third film from Chinese director Chloé Zhao proved to be a knockout and a deserved recipient of the festival’s Golden Lion.
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