Everything about the Lions of the 80th Venice International Film Festival: Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos wins, thanks to an extraordinary Emma Stone. On the podium are Japanese master Hamaguchi and the migrant stories of Io Capitano and Green Border
The final day of the 80th Venice International Film Festival. Anticipation is high to discover the winners. On the red carpet, numerous young fans call out the names of directors and actors as they parade past, trying to identify the potential winners. In the press room, the atmosphere is one of frantic expectation.
Predictions are being ventured, and the atmosphere is akin to a stadium. On the final red carpet, the members of the jury parade by. Damien Chazelle signs a few autographs. Tiziana Rocca and Alba Parietti arrive, the latter in a red dress. Various delegations arrive: Michel Franco with Sarsgaard and Gyllenhaal, who stop to pose for photographers. Matteo Garrone, Yorgos Lanthimos, Claudia Gerini, and many others arrive.
Finally, the Spanish director J.A. Bayona arrives with the cast of the closing film. The red carpet slowly empties, and the award ceremony begins.
The main section awards
The Venezia80 jury, led by the director of La La Land and Babylon, Damien Chazelle, has assigned the following awards to the films in Competition:
– Golden Lion for Best Film to Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos
– Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize to the Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi for Evil Does Not Exist
– Silver Lion – Award for Best Director to Matteo Garrone for Io Capitano
– Special Jury Prize to Green Border by the Polish director Agnieszka Holland
– Volpi Cup for Best Actress to Cailee Spaeny for Priscilla by Sofia Coppola
– Volpi Cup for Best Actor to Peter Sarsgaard for Memory by Michel Franco
– Award for Best Screenplay to Guillermo Calderón and Pablo Larraín for El Conde
– Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress to Seydou Sarr for Io Capitano (the actor gave a moving speech that touched everyone present)
The Orizzonti section
The Orizzonti section Jury, led by Italian director Jonas Carpignano, has assigned the following awards:
– Orizzonti Award for Best Film to Explanation for Everything by the Hungarian director Gábor Reisz
– Orizzonti Award for Best Director to Mika Gustafson for the film Paradise Is Burning
– Orizzonti Special Jury Prize to Una sterminata domenica, the debut work of Alain Parroni
– Orizzonti Award for Best Actress to Margarita Rosa De Francisco for the film El Paraíso
– Orizzonti Award for Best Actor to Tergel Bold-Erdene for the film Ser ser salhi (City of Wind)
– Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay to Enrico Maria Artale for the film El Paraíso
– Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film to Erenik Beqiri for A Short Trip
The other sections
The Armani Beauty Audience Award for the Orizzonti Extra section goes to Felicità, the debut work of Micaela Ramazzotti.
For Venice Classics, the award for Best Restored Film goes to the Japanese film Ohikkoshi (Moving) by Shinji Somai.
The Award for Best Documentary goes to Thank You Very Much by Alex Braverman.
Among the virtual reality works: the Venice Immersive Achievement Award is won by Empereur by Marion Burger and Ilan Cohen; the Special Jury Prize goes to Flow by Adriaan Lockman. Finally, the Venice Immersive Grand Prize goes to Songs for a Passerby by Celine Daemen.
The Lion of the Future and the Lifetime Achievement Lions
The international Jury of the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film, led by French director Alice Diop—winner of this same award and the Silver Lion last year—has assigned the Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film, and a prize of 100,000 USD provided by Filmauro (presented by Claudia Gerini), to Love Is a Gun by Lee Hong-Chi, screened in the International Critics’ Week.
The young Chinese director gave special thanks to his wife, who encouraged him to share this film with the world.
During the Festival, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement had already been awarded to director Liliana Cavani and actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, as well as the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award to the American director, screenwriter, and producer Wes Anderson (The French Dispatch, Grand Budapest Hotel, The Royal Tenenbaums).
Finally, the Campari Passion for Film 2023 Award was presented to the production designer Tonino Zera.
The Collateral Awards
The winner of the 38th International Critics’ Week is Malqueridas by Tana Gilbert, which also won the Mario Serandrei – Hotel Saturnia Award for Best Technical Contribution.
The Audience Award went to Hoard by Luna Carmoon, which also won the Verona Film Club Award for the most innovative film.
For the SIC@SIC (Short Italian Cinema at the International Critics’ Week) short film showcase, the awarded films were Las memorias perdidas de los árboles by Antonio La Camera (Best Film), La linea del terminatore by Gabriele Biasi, and the delightful and funny We Should All Be Futurists by Angela Norelli (Best Technical Contribution).
Three films were awarded within the Giornate degli Autori (Venice Days):
– GDA Director’s Award: goes to Vampire humaniste cherche suicidant consentant by Ariane Louis-Seize
– Europa Cinemas Label Award to Photophobia by Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarcík
– Audience Award to Quitter la nuit (Through the Night) by Delphine Girard
Among the films in this section, the splendid Backstage by Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane also received recognition, winning the Cinema & Arts Award.
There are also many other collateral awards that, as every year, were assigned here at the Lido during the final days of the Festival. Among the films in Competition at Venezia80, the one that gathered the most recognition was Io Capitano by Matteo Garrone, which collected 11 awards: CICT – UNESCO “Enrico Fulchignoni” Award, Civitas Award, Edipo Re Award, FEDIC Award, Francesco Pasinetti Award, Green Drop Award, ImpACT Award, Leoncino d’Oro Award, Pellicola d’Oro for Best Production Manager, SIGNIS Award, and Soundtracks Star Award for Best Soundtrack (for the music by Andrea Farri).
Numerous recognisitions also went to Zielona Granica (Green Border) by Agnieszka Holland, which collected 6 awards: the Arca Cinema Giovani Award for Best Film, the CinemaSarà Award (from the Cineteca Italiana in Milan), the Green Drop Award, the “Sorriso Diverso” Award for Best Foreign Film, the UNIMED Award for Cultural Diversity, and the “Cinema for UNICEF” mention at the Leoncino D’Oro awards.
Other collateral awards among the films in Competition were assigned to Evil Does Not Exist by Ryusuke Hamaguchi (FIPRESCI Award, Ca’ Foscari Young Jury Award, FAI Foundation Award, Special Mention of the CinemaSarà Award), Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos (UNIMED Award), Adagio by Stefano Sollima (Special Soundtrack Award for the music by Subsonica), and Dogman by Luc Besson (Graffetta d’Oro).
Among the films in the Orizzonti section, Tatami by Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir Ebrahimi won the Brian Award from the UAAR, while the Macedonian film Domakinstvo za Pocetnici (Housekeeping for Beginners) won the 17th edition of the Queer Lion Award.
Among the Out of Competition films, Making Of by Cédric Kahn won (ex aequo) the Cinema & Arts Award and a special mention from the FAI Award.
Article by Pietro Gallina from veneziacinema.com.
Photos from September 9, 2023, are by Rossana Viola.
