The films, the stars, the crowds, the awards. The world’s oldest film festival proved in its 79^th edition that the global film industry is back as the entire 11 days felt post-pandemic. The Lido was crowded throughout, and it was not just because of the presence of two young actors and their female millennial fans.

Timothée Chalamet and Harry Styles may have caused the most excitement among a certain age group, but they played no part in last night’s award ceremony. The night belonged to women.

The jury, under their president Julianne Moore, in a rare decision awarded not a feature but a documentary the Golden Lion for best film. Director Laura Poitras’ All the Beauty and the Bloodshed took home the festival’s highest honor. This makes Poitras the third female director in a row to take the prize after Chloé Zhao and Audrey Diwan in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

 

 

Poitras’ film features famed photographer Nan Goldin’s protests against big pharma, and the director dedicated the award to her protagonist. “This is for Nan. I love you, Nan. Monday is her birthday, so we’ll bring this to Nan.” She thanked the organizers and the jury by saying, “I need to thank the festival first and foremost, for understanding that documentary is cinema.”

Newcomer Taylor Russell took home the Marcello Mastroianni prize for playing the cannibal girl opposite the cannibal boy Chalamet in Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All. She said she felt like she was in a dream during the winners’ press conference. “How did I get here among these people [up here] . . . Anything that could happen is a gift and a reason to celebrate.”

Guadagnino took home the Silver Lion for best director, a nod from Italy’s premier festival to one of Italy’s current premier filmmakers.

This decision seems to have been a split one. Most critics considered The Banshees of Inisherin the best film – Martin McDonagh reunited with his two In Bruges actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson after 14 years in this deeply moving story of friendship – and it is likely the jury discussed McDonagh for best director but ended up making a compromise and awarding him with the Best Screenplay honor. That his lead Colin Farrell got the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor was expected, even though Brendan Fraser must have come in a close second for Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale.

Farrell, a first-time winner in Venice, could not fly back to accept in person as he is in production on an Apple project, prompting him to show great humor when he tuned in from California: in lieu of the award, he waved a bunch of bananas in front of the camera and asked his director to take his big golden cup back for him.

Equally expected was Cate Blanchett’s win as Best Actress in Todd Field’sTar, even when – for a brief moment – some reviewers speculated on Ana de Armas who channels Marilyn Monroe in Blonde. In the end, what always happens, happened: the outstanding performance in the unanimously lauded film won out over the excellent performance in the movie that got mixed reviews.

In her remarks, later, Blanchett – who interestingly chaired the jury here only two years ago in its reduced 2020 version – paid tribute to the Mostra: “This festival is very dear to my heart, it is an incredible gateway to cinema from all corners of the globe . . . When you look at the lineup of the jury, to have the respect and adulation of that particular group of people is remarkable and means the world to me.” (for her full comments, please watch the video on the Golden Globes YouTube channel https://youtu.be/aG500FFQcxI )

 

 

Saint Omer, the directing debut of Senegalese French filmmaker Alice Diop, won the Grand Prize as well as the Lion of the Future Award for the best first feature. Diop chronicles the trial of a Franco-Senegalese mother who committed infanticide in this legal drama.

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi directed his film No Bears about two parallel love stories via Zoom and won this year’s Special Jury Prize. His two leads, Reza Heydari and Mina Kavari accepted on his behalf since Panahi remains imprisoned in Teheran.

Another Iranian story was the subject of the winner in the festival’s Horizons section, World War III from director Houman Seyyedi, with male lead Mohsen Tanabandeh winning the best actor honor.

The Austrian feature, Vera, by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel yielded awards in the Horizons section to both the directors and the female lead, Vera Gemma, who plays herself.

All in all, the 79^th Mostra was the festival of women, as more than ever before took home the honors across all the categories.

 

 

See the full list of winners here:

 

VENEZIA 79 – MAIN COMPETITION

Best Young Actor: “Bones and All,” Taylor Russell

Best Actor: Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, “TÁR”

Best Screenplay: “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Martin McDonagh

Special Jury Prize: “No Bears,” Jafar Panahi

Silver Lion for Best Director: “Bones and All,” Luca Guadagnino

Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize:“Saint Omer,” Alice Diop

Golden Lion: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras

 

HORIZONS

Best Short Film: “Snow in September,” Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir

Best Screenplay: “Blanquita,” Fernando Guzzoni

Best Actor: “World War III,” Mohsen Tanabandeh

Best Actress: “Vera,” Vera Gemma

Special Jury Prize: “Bread and Salt,” Damian Kocur

Best Director: “Vera,” Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel

Best Film: “World War III,” Houman Seyyedi

 

HORIZONS EXTRA

Audience Award: “Nezouh,” Soudade Kaadan

 

LION OF THE FUTURE

Award for Best Debut Feature: “Saint Omer,” Alice Diop

 

VENICE IMMMERSIVE

Special Jury Prize: “Eggscape,” German Heller, Jorge Tereso, Federico Heller

Grand Jury Prize: “From the Main Square,” Pedro Harres

Best Immersive Experience: “The Man Who Couldn’t Leave,” Chen Singing

 

VENICE CLASSICS

Best Restored Film: “Branded to Kill,” Seijun Suzuk

Best Documentary of Cinema: “Fragments of Paradise,” K.D. Davison

 

VENICE DAYS

Cinema of the Future Award: “The Maiden,” Graham Foy

Director’s Award: “Wolf and Dog,” Cláudia Varejão

People’s Choice Award: “Blue Jean,” Georgia Oakley

 

CRITICS’ WEEK

Grand Prize: “Eismayer,” David Wagner

Special Mention: “Anhell69,” Theo Montoya

Audience Award: “Margini,” Niccolò Falsetti

Verona Film Club Award: “Anhell69,” Theo Montoya

Mario Serandrei – Hotel Saturnia Award for Best Technical Contribution: “Anhell69,” Theo Montoya

Best Short Film: “Puiet,” Lorenzo Fabbro and Bronte Stahl

Best Director (Short Film): “Albertine Where Are You?”, Maria Guidone

Best Technical Contribution (Short Film): “Reginetta,” Federico Russotto