Julian Schnabel to receive the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker 2025 award

La Biennale di Venezia and Cartier are pleased to announce that the American artist and director Julian Schnabel (At Eternity's Gate, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Basquiat) is the recipient of the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award of the 82^nd Venice International Film Festival (August 27^th – September 6^th, 2025), dedicated to a personality who has made a particularly original contribution to the contemporary film industry.

The award ceremony for Julian Schnabel will take place on Wednesday September 3^rd 2025 in the Sala Grande (Palazzo del Cinema) at 9:30 pm, before the screening Out of Competition of his new film, In the Hand of Dante (USA/Italy, 150')  with Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, Al Pacino, John Malkovich, Martin Scorsese,  Jason Momoa, Louis Cancelmi, and Franco Nero.

The 82^nd Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia will be held on the Lido from August 27^th to September 6^th, 2025, directed by Alberto Barbera.

Julian Schnabel in accepting the offer, declared: “I first stepped foot in Venice in November of 1976. At the time, I went to Padua to see the Scrovegni Chapel of Giotto and to see the paintings in Venice. I never dreamed that I would become a filmmaker, let alone be honored with this award, and be included alongside so many filmmakers I admire, because in fact I am a painter. But I guess I am a filmmaker as well. I’ve now shown my films at the Venice Film Festival for almost 30 years, and to receive the Glory to the Filmmaker Award for the world premiere of my new film In the Hand of Dante means so much to me, as tracking Dante and Nick’s trajectory in this film has somehow mirrored my own life. Thank you. I couldn’t be happier about this”.

Welcoming this announcement, the Director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera has stated: “Each of Julian Schnabel’s films is a world of its own. None is like the one before or the one after. Yet, it is not a coincidence that most of them are portraits of artists and passionate depictions of the artistic process. As generous as it is wildly imaginative, Schnabel’s cinematic output is a gift to film, articulated through a wholly original language.  His new feature, In the Hand of Dante, is his most ambitious project to date. As Martin Scorsese said when asked to describe them, Schnabel’s films are 'abundant, overflowing and vibrating with life, pulse. There is always more in the frame to see, to experience, and to feel'”.

Arnaud Carrez Senior Vice President Chief Marketing Officer at Cartier International, has declared: “The Maison is very pleased to present this year’s Glory to the Filmmaker Award to Julian Schnabel, in honour of his original contribution to the film industry. The unbridled creativity of each of his films invites us into captivating universes through a painter’s sensitivity and visual language. This encounter between artistic sensibility and a dedication to creation marks a precious rarity that is dear to the Maison”.

Directed by Julian Schnabel, In the Hand of Dante is produced by DreamCrew Entertainment, MeMo Films, TWIN Pictures and Artofficial Productions. International Distribution: WME Independent.

About In the Hand of Dante
Based on the novel by Nick Tosches and adapted by Louise Kugelberg together with Julian Schnabel, it’s the story of a handwritten manuscript of Dante Alighieri's poem The Divine Comedy that makes its way from a priest to a mob boss in New York City, where it is taken by Nick Tosches after he's asked to verify its authenticity.

Julian Schnabel was born in New York City in 1951 and moved with his family to Brownsville, Texas in 1965. After receiving a BFA from the University of Houston in 1973, he returned to New York to participate in the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. In 1978 Schnabel travelled throughout Europe. That same year he made his first plate painting, The Patients and the Doctors. His first solo exhibition took place at the Mary Boone Gallery in New York in 1979. Since then, Schnabel's work has been exhibited all over the world. His paintings, sculptures, and works on paper have been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions and are included in the public collections of many major museums. He has exhibited his works at La Biennale Art Exhibition on five occasions: in 1980, 1982, 1993, 1997 and 2003. In 1996 Schnabel wrote and directed the feature Basquiat which screened in competition at the Venice Film Festival. His second film, Before Night Falls, won the Venice Grand Jury Prize and the Coppa Volpi for the best actor for Javier Bardem in 2000. In 2007 Schnabel directed four-time Oscar nominee The Diving Bell and the Butterfly for which he received Best Director award both in Cannes and at the Golden Globes, where the film won also the award for Best Foreign Film. In 2007 he directed Berlin, a film about Lou Reed's concert in the German capital. His next film Miral won both the UNESCO and the UNICEF awards at the Venice Film Festival in 2010 and screened at the General Assembly Hall of the U.N. In 2018 he presented in competition in Venice the film At Eternity's Gate, about the life of Vincent Van Gogh, which earned the leading actor Willem Dafoe the Volpi Cup and an Oscar nomination for best leading actor. Julian Schnabel currently lives and works in New York City and Montauk, Long Island.

Since 2021, Cartier has partnered with La Biennale di Venezia to become Main Sponsor of the Venice International Film Festival and jointly contribute to supporting contemporary film creation. As part of this collaboration, and since 2021, the Venice International Film Festival and Cartier pay tribute to outstanding filmmakers through the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award, dedicated to a personality who has made a particularly original contribution to the contemporary film industry. The award ceremony takes place in the Lido di Venezia and will be a unique occasion to celebrate talent, creativity, and emotion. Art and culture have always been intimately linked to the history of Cartier. This collaboration with one of the most renowned international cultural events builds on the Maison’s long-lasting commitments to preserve cultural heritage and to support contemporary artistic creation.