Lee Daniels, Nadine Labaki and Marina Abramović will receive the 2026 Liberatum Pioneer Awards during the Venice Film Festival. The honours recognise artists who challenge convention, overcome systemic barriers and broaden the possibilities of their fields, with the organisers highlighting each recipient’s influence on public culture and artistic practice.

The presentations will be held in Venice on 6 and 7 September as part of the first Liberatum Art & Cinema programme, marking Liberatum’s 25th anniversary. Daniels is cited for bringing frank portrayals of Black life, trauma, sexuality and family into mainstream film and television; Labaki for internationally foregrounding stories of displacement, poverty and conflict from Lebanon and the Middle East; and Abramović for defining and expanding performance art through works involving duration, presence and physical risk.