51st Venice International Film Festival

The 51st annual Venice International Film Festival was held on 1 September to 12 September, 1994.

American filmmaker David Lynch was the Jury President of the main competition. The Golden Lion winners were Before the Rain directed by Milcho Manchevski and Vive L'Amour directed by Tsai Ming-liang.

Main Competition
The following people comprised the 1994 jury:
 * David Lynch, American filmmaker, actor, music and visual artist
 * Olivier Assayas, French filmmaker and film critic
 * Margherita Buy, Italian actress
 * Gaston Kaboré, Burkinabé filmmaker
 * Nagisa Oshima, Japanese filmmaker
 * David Stratton, English-Australian film critic
 * Uma Thurman, American actress
 * Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian writer
 * Carlo Verdone, Italian actor and filmmaker

Out of competition

 * Bullets Over Broadway by Woody Allen (United States)
 * Dichiarazioni d'amore by Pupi Avati (Italy)
 * Oasi by Cristiano Bortone (Italy)
 * Staggered by Martin Clunes (United Kingdom)
 * Tom & Viv by Brian Gilbert (United Kingdom)
 * Genesis: The Creation and the Flood by Ermanno Olmi (Italy, Germany)
 * Il Postino: The Postman by Michael Radford (Italy, France)

Venetian Nights

 * Love and Human Remains by Denys Arcand (Canada)
 * True Lies by James Cameron (United States)
 * 47 Ronin by Kon Ichikawa (Japan)
 * Wolf by Mike Nichols (United States)
 * Clear and Present Danger by Phillip Noyce (United States)
 * Captives by Angela Pope (United Kingdom)
 * The Nightmare Before Christmas by Henry Selick (United States)
 * The Night and the Moment by Anna Maria Tatò (France, United Kingdom, Italy)
 * Woodstock 25th Anniversary Director' s Cut by Michael Wadleigh (United States)
 * Metal Skin by Geoffrey Wright (Australia)
 * Forrest Gump by Robert Zemeckis (United States)

Venice International Film Critics' Week
The following feature films were selected to be screened as In Competition for this section:
 * Accumulator 1 (Akumulátor 1) by Jan Svěrák (Czech Republic)
 * Cracking Up by Matt Mitler (United States)
 * Don’t Get Me Started by Arthur Ellis (United Kingdom)
 * The Road to Paradise (Doroga V Ray) by Vitalij Moskalenko (Russia)
 * Frankie, Jonny und die anderen... Schattenkämpfer by Hans-Erich Viet (Germany)
 * Ilayum Mullum (aka Leaves And Thorns) by K.P. Sasi (India)
 * Iron Horsemen by Gilles Charmant (France)
 * Passé-Composé (en. Past Imperfect) by Françoise Romand (France, Tunisia)
 * That Eye, the Sky by John Ruane (Australia)

Main Competition

 * Golden Lion:
 * Before the Rain by Milčo Mančevski
 * Vive L'Amour by Tsai Ming-liang
 * Silver Lion:
 * Heavenly Creatures by Peter Jackson
 * Little Odessa by James Gray
 * Il toro by Carlo Mazzacurati
 * Grand Special Jury Prize: Natural Born Killers by Oliver Stone
 * Golden Osella:
 * Best Director: Gianni Amelio for Lamerica
 * Best Screenplay: Bigas Luna, Cuca Canals for La teta y la luna
 * Best Cinematography: Christopher Doyle for Ashes of Time
 * Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Xia Yu for In the Heat of the Sun
 * Best Supporting Actor: Roberto Citran for Il toro
 * Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Maria de Medeiros for Três Irmãos
 * Best Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave for Little Odessa

Career Golden Lion

 * Al Pacino
 * Suso Cecchi d'Amico
 * Ken Loach

The President of the Italian Senate's Gold Medal

 * Život a neobyčejná dobrodružství vojáka Ivana Čonkina by Jiří Menzel

Golden Ciak

 * La bella vita by Paolo Virzì

FIPRESCI Prize

 * Before the Rain by Milčo Mančevski
 * Vive L'Amour by Tsai Ming-liang

OCIC Award

 * Lamerica by Gianni Amelio