09/09/2022 - VENICE 2022: The film by Portuguese filmmaker Cláudia Varejão crowned by 27 young European cinephiles, the Europa Cinemas Label went to Dirty Difficult Dangerous, Blue Jean is the audience favourite

(l-r): Wolf and Dog's Cláudia Varejão, Blue Jean's Georgia Oakley and Dirty Difficult Dangerous Italian co-producer Marco Valerio Fusco, with their Giornate degli Autori awards (© Giornate degli Autori)

The winner of the Giornate degli Autori Directors’ Award at the 19th edition of the Giornate degli Autori of the Venice Film Festival is Wolf and Dog [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cláudia Varejão
film profile] by Cláudia Varejão. Of the ten titles in competition, the Portuguese director’s film was crowned by the jury of young Europeans of the 27 Times Cinema project (read their articles on our blog), presided by writer-director Céline Sciamma, because, as the statement reads, “this film immersed us in its world and has allowed us to face an important theme, presenting queer characters as they are within a space that is safe for them [...] offering a frank, honest and impactful representation of a close-knit queer community.” The GdA Directors’ Award comes with a €20,000 prize, half aimed at the director, and half reserved for the international sales agent of the film, to help its circulation.

The Europa Cinemas Label for Best European Film goes instead to Dirty Difficult Dangerous [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Wissam Charaf
film profile] by the French-Lebanese director Wissam Charaf. The film will benefit from the promotional support of Europa Cinemas and from better distribution thanks to a financial incentive for the cinemas in the network that will include it in their programming. The jury, composed of Michèle Creemers (Cinecenter, Amsterdam, Netherlands), Marco Fortunato (Cinemazero, Pordenone, Italy), Hristo Hristozov (Dom na Kinoto, Sofia, Bulgaria) and Zacharias Ioannidis-Varvaressos (Cine Paradisos, Korydallos, Greece) called Charaf's film "a very original and surprisingly encouraging film" that "deals with many of the tragic themes - war, refugees, human trafficking" but through "a love story that even has strong fairy tale elements" and "with a few moments of dark fun.”

This year's winner of the GdA Audience Award, voted for each day at the end of the competition film screenings, is Georgia Oakley's Blue Jean [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Georgia Oakley
film profile], with 65% of the vote. The BNL x Cinema of the Future prize, consisting of a cheque for 3,000 € and destined for the author of a first or second work distinguished for its courage and innovation, goes instead to The Maiden by Canadian director Graham Foy.

Furthermore, as previously announced, as part of Giornate degli Autori, the SIAE awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award to director Gianni Amelio and the Creative Talent Award to cinematographer Daniele Ciprì.

The prizes awarded in the 2022 Giornate degli Autori: 

GdA Director’s Award
Wolf and Dog [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cláudia Varejão
film profile] - Cláudia Varejão (Portugal)

Audience Award
Blue Jean [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Georgia Oakley
film profile] - Georgia Oakley (UK)

Europa Cinemas Label
Dirty Difficult Dangerous [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Wissam Charaf
film profile] - Wissam Charaf (France/Italy/Liban)

BNL x Cinema of the Future
The Maiden - Graham Foy (Canada)

SIAE Lifetime Achievement Award
Gianni Amelio

Creative Talent Award
Daniele Ciprì

(Translated from Italian by Manuela Lazic)