Danish director May el-Toukhy wins Venice's Golden Lion

Danish director May el-Toukhy has won the Golden Lion, the top prize, at the Venice Film Festival for her film "Woman Unknown," the jury announced on Saturday.

The film's lead actress, Mathilde Arcel, also won the award for best actress.

The festival's second most important award, the Grand Jury Prize, went to "Possible Love" by Lee Chang-dong. The documentary "NAZA" by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor about Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip won the jury's special prize.

El-Toukhy is only the eighth woman in the history of the festival to have won the Golden Lion. Of the 21 films in this year's competition, only two were made by women, which jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal had described as a structural problem.

The historical drama "Woman Unknown" tells the story of the young Dane Marie, who shortly after the Second World War is about to marry her wealthy employer.

But her social rise is threatened by a secret: During the occupation she had an affair with a German soldier. In the post-war period marked by revenge, she now risks everything to protect the existence she painstakingly built from being exposed.

US actor John Malkovich was meanwhile named best actor for the film "Wild Horse Nine." Russian-born Ilya Khrzhanovsky received the award for best director for "Dau."

Director and screenwriter Stéphane Brizé was honoured for best screenplay for "Un bon petit soldat" (A nice little soldier) together with Coralie Amedeo and Olivier Gorce.

The 83rd Venice Film Festival, which began on September 2, is among the year's most important film industry events.