David di Donatello, a triumph for the Taviani brothers' Caesar

by Camillo de Marco

07/05/2012 - Following the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, the Paolo and Vittorio Taviani brothers also triumph at the David di Donatello, winning the two main awards for their film Caesar Must Die [trailer, film focus]: Best Film and Best Director. The Shakespearian Julius Caesar, set behind the bars of the Rebibbia prison, also received the statuettes for Best Producer, for the editor Roberto Perpignani and audio-engineers Benito Alchimede and Brando Mosca. The Tavianis naturally dedicated the awards to the convicts who starred in the film: "The pain of people who have committed crimes and are suffering was met with beauty and art" said Vittorio.

At the end of the award ceremony on Friday night, a certain disappointment hung over the favourites Nanni Moretti and Marco Tullio Giordana, whose films We Have a Pope [trailer, film focus] and Romanzo di una strage [trailer] won the Awards for Best Actor (Michel Piccoli), Best Set Designer (Paola Bizzarri ) and Best Costume Designer (Lina Nerli Taviani) for the former, Best Supporting Actors (Michela Cescon and Pierfrancesco Favino) and Best Visual Effects (Stefano Marinoni and Paola Trisoglio) for the latter. Amongst the remaining favourites, This Must Be The Place [trailer, film focus] received the David for Best Screenplay, written by the film's director, Paolo Sorrentino, and by Umberto Contarello, for Best Photography by Luca Bigazzi, and Best Music by David Byrne (plus other technical awards).

Francesco Bruni won Best New Director for Scialla! [trailer]. A surprise win was for China's Zhao Tao, who took home the award for Best Actress, for I am Li [trailer, film focus] by Andrea Segre. Best Foreign Language Film went to Oscar-winning A Separation by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, while takings champion The Intouchables by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano won it for the European Union. The David for Lifetime Achievement went to Liliana Cavani.

Winners of the David di Donatello 2012

Best Film
Caesar Must Die

Best Director
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani for Caesar Must Die

Best New Director
Francesco Bruni for Scialla!

Best Screenplay
Paolo Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello for This Must Be The Place

Best Producer
Grazia Volpi for Kaos Cinematografica, in association with Stemal Entertainment, Le Talee, Associazione Culturale La Ribalta, in collaborations with Rai Cinema for Caesar Must Die

Best Supporting Actress
Zhao Tao for I am Li

Best Actor
Michel Piccoli for We Have a Pope

Best Supporting Actress
Michela Cescon for Romanzo Di Una Strage

Best Supporting Actor
Pierfrancesco Favino for Romanzo Di Una Strage

Best Director of Photography
Luca Bigazzi for This Must Be The Place

Best Musician
David Byrne for This Must Be The Place

Best original Song
If It Falls, It Falls Musica by David Byrne, lyrics by Will Oldham, played by Michael Brunnock for This Must Be The Place

Best Set Designer
Paola Bizzarri for We Have a Pope

Best Costume Designer
Lina Nerli Taviani for We Have a Pope

Best Make-up Artist
Luisa Abel for This Must Be The Place

Best Hair Stylist
Kim Santantonio for This Must Be The Place

Best Editor
Roberto Perpignani for Caesar Must Die

Best Live Sound Engineer
Benito Alchimede and Brando Mosca for Caesar Must Die

Best Special Effects
Stefano Marinoni and Paola Trisoglio for Romanzo di una strage

Best European Union
Film The Intouchables by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano (Medusa Film)

Best Foreign Language Film
A Separation by Asghar Farhadi (Sacher Distribuzione)

David Young People
Scialla! by Francesco Bruni

Best Feature-length Documentary
Tahrir Liberation Square by Stefano Savona

Best Short Film
Dell'Ammazzare Il Maiale by Simone Massi

Special David 2012
Liliana Cavani

(Translated from Italian)