The golden lion roared across Saint Mark’s square as the Venice Film Festival rolled out the red carpet for the 73rd year.
Once a rival to its French neighbour Cannes, Venice’s popularity has dimmed over the years, but its reputation as one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world remains incontestable.
This year, twenty films competed for the prizes, each hoping to earn The Golden Lion, the highest accolade the festival awards. The panel of judges was chaired by American Beauty director and Oscar winner Sam Mendes.
The Golden Lion went to Filipino director Lav Diaz for “The Woman Who Left”, the 19th film by the 57-year-old filmmaker. The near 4-hour epic tells the tale of a schoolteacher named Horacia Somorostro who returns to society after being convicted and incarcerated for a murder she did not commit. This drama-thriller follows the struggles she faces as she returns to the outside world and her plot for revenge.
“This is for my country, for the Filipino people, for our struggle, for the struggle of humanity. Thank you, thank you so much,” the director stated upon his victory.
The Grand Jury Prize, or Silver Lion, was awarded to fashion designer Tom Ford. It is Ford’s sophomore directorial effort, and Venice has been very generous to his previous excursion, awarding Colin Firth Best Actor at the 2009 festival for Ford’s first venture into film, “A Single Man”. Tom Ford’s new film, a psychological thriller entitled “Nocturnal Animals”, stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams as a once married couple. As fashion and film festivals go hand in hand, Ford looked suitably stunning whilst receiving his prize.
Best Director was a tie between Mexican director Amat Escalante for “The Untamed», a horror set in small-town Mexico and Andrei Konchalovsky for “Paradise”, a drama surrounding The Holocaust.
Best Actor was awarded to Argentinian Oscar Martinez for his role in comedy-drama “The Distinguished Citizen”, where a European author travels to an Argentinian town where he finds merciless inspiration for his novel.
Sam Mendes gave the festival infinite praise, detailing the festival’s “wonderful, astonishing variety.”
Best actress went to Emma Stone for the musical “La La Land”. Other accolades included the Premio Marcello Mastroianni, which was bestowed upon German actress Paula Beer for her role in post-war movie “Frantz,” a movie following a German woman’s visit to her deceased fiancé’s grave, where she encounters a French man also paying his respects.
Meanwhile, the screenplay award went to Noah Oppenheim for Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie”, a film chronicling the life of Jackie Kennedy before and after JFK’s assassination. The Special Jury Prize went to Ana Lily Amirpour’s “The Bad Batch,” a love-story that takes place amongst Texan cannibals and stars Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey. Sam Mendes gave the festival infinite praise, detailing the festival’s “wonderful, astonishing variety.”
And so the sun set over the water of the northern Italian city, with a roster of awards going to truly wondrous and diverse films and filmmakers. Venice film festival continues to prove that cinema is as necessary, adjoining and as beautiful as the Rialto Bridge that spans across the Grand Canal.
Article by Brad Yellop
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