Julian Schnabel to Premiere ‘In the Hand of Dante’ and Receive Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award at Venice Film Festival

Director Julian Schnabel (At Eternity’s Gate, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Basquiat) will receive the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival taking place August 27th – September 6th, 2025.

The award ceremony will take place before the screening in Out of Competition of his new film, In the Hand of Dante starring Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, Al Pacino, John Malkovich, Martin Scorsese, Jason Momoa, Louis Cancelmi and Franco Nero.

Based on the novel by Nick Tosches and adapted by Louise Kugelberg together with Julian Schnabel, In the Hand of Dante is 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 in accepting the honor, commented, “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 the announcement, the Director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera 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, added, “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.”