Kinéo Awards 2025: Faye Dunaway & Nicola Peltz Beckham

The Kinéo Awards are set to bring a dose of Hollywood glamour to the Lido this year, with a pair of high-profile actresses confirmed as honorees during the Venice Film Festival’s upcoming edition. Faye Dunaway, the Oscar-winning icon of the New Hollywood era, and Nicola Peltz Beckham, the younger generation’s rising star, will both be celebrated at the long-running sidebar event, organizers announced this week.

The ceremony, which has become a staple of the festival’s social calendar since its inception, will recognize Dunaway for her lifetime of contributions to cinema and Peltz Beckham for her emerging body of work. The Kinée Awards, an independent event held parallel to the main Venice lineup, are known for spotlighting both established legends and up-and-coming talent, and this year’s pairing reflects that dual mission. While specific dates and venues for the August ceremony have not been detailed, the announcement adds an early spark of anticipation for the festival, which runs through early September.

For Dunaway, the honor arrives at a moment when her legacy is enjoying renewed attention. The 85-year-old actress, whose career spans more than five decades, remains one of the most electrifying performers of her generation. From her breakthrough in Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde to her searing, Oscar-winning turn in Network, she defined a certain kind of fierce, uncompromising screen presence that still resonates with actors and audiences alike. She followed that with acclaimed performances in Chinatown, Mommie Dearest, and a string of other films that cemented her status as a bona fide movie star, even as she navigated the industry’s shifting tides. Her later work has included a memorable role in the TV series Grey's Anatomy and a comeback in the 2017 film The Bye Bye Man. In recent years, she has been more selective with her projects, making the Kinée recognition a fitting tribute from a festival circuit that has long celebrated her as a peerless force.

Peltz Beckham, meanwhile, represents a different trajectory. The 31-year-old actress, who grew up in the public eye as the daughter of billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz and later married Brooklyn Beckham, has steadily carved out her own path in Hollywood. She appeared in films like Transformers: Age of Extinction and the indie drama Lola James, and she made her feature directorial debut with Lola, which she also wrote and starred in. While she has sometimes been better known for her high-profile personal life, her creative ambitions have been increasingly visible, and her inclusion in the Kinéo lineup signals a desire by the ceremony’s organizers to acknowledge the next wave of talent. For a young actress with her name recognition, an international platform like Venice offers valuable global exposure, particularly as she continues to develop projects both in front of and behind the camera.

The Kinéo Awards have carved out a niche for themselves as a more intimate, writer-driven alternative to the festival’s many glitzy parties and premieres. Founded by Italian journalist and writer Sergio Nasca, the event has a history of honoring eclectic figures, from veteran auteurs to fresh faces, often with a focus on international cinema. Past honorees have ranged from Sofia Coppola to Quentin Tarantino, and the awards are typically presented at a venue near the festival’s main hub, drawing press and industry insiders who appreciate the event’s more personal feel. The inclusion of both Dunaway and Peltz Beckham underscores the ceremony’s commitment to bridging generations, pairing a living legend of the 1970s with a contemporary star whose career is still in its formative chapter.

The announcement also provides a feel-good moment for the festival, which has faced its own industry-wide headwinds in recent years, including labor strikes and evolving distribution models. High-profile honorees like Dunaway bring a sense of prestige and continuity, while Peltz Beckham’s social media reach offers the kind of buzz the Kinéo Awards are eager to generate. For Dunaway, it’s a chance to reconnect with the international film community; for Peltz Beckham, it’s an opportunity to stake a claim beyond the tabloid headlines.

No further details about the ceremony’s full slate of honorees have been released, leaving room for more announcements in the lead-up to the festival. But with these two names now attached, the Kinéo Awards are already shaping up to be one of the splashier side events on the Lido. Whether the focus lands on Dunaway’s storied past or Peltz Beckham’s forward-looking ambitions, the ceremony promises a moment of cross-generational celebration, the kind that reminds festival-goers why Venice remains a destination for both cinematic history and its future. For attendees, it will be a rare chance to see two very different eras of stardom share a single spotlight, albeit on different sides of their careers. For Dunaway, it’s a well-earned bow; for Peltz Beckham, it’s an early step into a global stage that has launched many careers before her. The festival, as it does every year, will offer plenty of drama on screen - and now, at least one evening of it off-screen, as well.

Source: Hollywood Reporter