Liberatum Honors Lee Daniels, Nadine Labaki and Marina Abramovic at Venice Festival

Liberatum’s cultural diplomacy organization will present its 2026 Pioneer Awards to three distinguished creators at the Venice Film Festival on Sept 6 and 7, coinciding with the launch of the group’s first-ever Art & Cinema multidisciplinary series celebrating its 25th year. The honorees are Lee Daniels, known for the series Empire and films such as Precious and The Butler, recognized for unapologetic portrayals of Black experiences; Nadine Labaki, whose films Where Do We Go Now? and Capernaum have carried Lebanese and broader Middle-Eastern stories to Cannes and an Oscar nomination; and Marina Abramovic, the Serbian performance artist famed for The Artist Is Present, honored for establishing performance art as a distinct discipline.

Abramovic also opens a major solo exhibition at Venice’s Gallerie dell’Accademia, becoming the first living woman to receive that distinction. Past laureates include Angela Bassett, Ivete Sacramento and Ellen Burstyn. The awards highlight works that challenge norms, break barriers and uphold human dignity.