[5] The range of work at the Venice Biennale now covers Italian and international art, architecture, dance, music, theatre, and cinema.

[citation needed] The festival is held in late August or early September on the island of the Lido in the Venice Lagoon.

Due to its wins of critically acclaimed films and prompting higher chance of Academy Award contention in this season, the festival continues to be one of the world's most popular and fastest-growing.

[10] With this in mind, the Venice International Film Festival was created by Giuseppe Volpi, Luciano de Feo, and Antonio Maraini in 1932.

[11][12][10] Volpi, a statesman, wealthy businessman, and avid fascist who had been Benito Mussolini's minister of finance, was appointed president of the Venice Biennale the same year.

[12] On the night of 6 August 1932, the festival opened with a screening of the American film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on the terrace of the Excelsior Palace Hotel.

[12] The third installment of the festival in 1935 was headed by its first artistic director, Ottavio Croze, who maintained this position until World War II.

A law crafted by the Ministry of Popular Culture made the festival an autonomous entity, separate from the main Venice Biennale.

With the advent of the conflict the situation degenerated to such a point that the editions of 1940, 1941 and 1942, subsequently are considered as if they did not happen because they were carried out in places far away from Lido.

[14] In 1947, the festival was held in the courtyard of the Doge's Palace, a most magnificent backdrop for hosting a record 90 thousand participants.

During the years of his directorship, Chiarini aspired to renew the spirit and the structures of the festival, pushing for a total reorganization of the entire system.

For six years the festival followed a consistent path, according to the rigid criteria put in place for the selection of works in competition, and took a firm stand against the political pressures and interference of more and more demanding movie studios, preferring the artistic quality of films to the growing commercialization of the film industry.

During the recent years, under the direction of Alberto Barbera, the festival established itself as an Oscars launchpad,[15] increasing the presence of American movies and hosting the world premieres of Academy Award–winning films such as Gravity (2013), Birdman (2014), Spotlight (2015), La La Land (2016), The Shape of Water (2017), The Favourite (2018), Roma (2018), Joker (2019), Nomadland (2020), Dune (2021), The Whale (2022) and Poor Things (2023).

[18][19] In 2018 Roma by Alfonso Cuarón won the Golden Lion and became the first movie produced by a streaming service, Netflix, to win at a major film festival.

[20] The president of the Venice Biennale represents the festival in front of its financial partner, the public authorities, and the media.

The goal of the Venice Film Festival is to "raise awareness and promote international cinema in all its forms, including art, entertainment and industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue.

This section is devoted entirely to immersive media and includes all Extended Reality means of creative and cinematographic expression.

[25] Glory to the Filmmaker Award, organized in collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre (2006–2020) and Cartier (from 2021), is dedicated to personalities who have made a significant contribution to contemporary cinema.

[34] In the first edition of the festival in 1932, due to the lack of a jury and the awarding of official prizes, a list of acknowledgements was decided by popular vote, a tally determined by the number of people flocking to the films, and announced by the Organizing Committee.