10/09/2022 - VENICE 2022: The Golden Lion goes to US movie All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, the Grand Jury Prize to Saint Omer, Best Direction to Bones and All and the Special Prize to No Bears

The Venice Film Festival, which has now reached its 90th anniversary, despite this being its 79th edition, has cried out to the world, demanding the release of all filmmakers held in prison for defending the right to freedom of expression, by awarding the Golden Lion to All the Beauty and the Bloodshed by Laura Poitras and the Special Jury Prize to No Bears by Jafar Panahi, who is currently a prisoner of the Iranian government and who formed the focus of a standing ovation.

Laura Poitras’ movie, the only documentary in competition, follows US photographer Nan Goldin and documents her battle with the Sackler family, who own the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma and are believed to be responsible for the opioid epidemic in the USA.

Jury president Julianne Moore also awarded the Grand Jury Prize to a very emotional Alice Diop for Saint Omer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Diop
interview: Kayije Kagame
film profile], who mentioned a book about black women which she’d been reading while filming: Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde: “Our silence won’t protect us. What I mean is that we will no longer remain quiet”. The film also won the Luigi De Laurentis First Film Award – Future Lion, as revealed by First Films jury president Michelangelo Frammartino, dedicated to “blood sisters, sisters of heart, sisters in battle and sisters in film”.

As expected, Luca Guadagnino also scooped a trophy in the form of the Silver Lion for Best Direction, thanks to Bones and All [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], described by the filmmaker as “a special marriage between Italy and America”, while the movie’s female lead, American actress Taylor Russell, bagged the Marcello Mastroianni Prize, awarded to young and emerging actors or actresses.

One of the most hotly anticipated films of the Festival, The Banshees of Inisherin [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], was rewarded with two prestigious accolades: Best Screenplay for director Martin McDonagh and, somewhat unexpectedly, The Volpi Cup for Best Actor which went to Colin Farrell, who reacted via video link from Los Angeles where he’s currently filming, and who hinted at the “values we wanted to share with the audience” of this film, shot on the West coast of his native Ireland.

The Volpi Cup for Best Actress, meanwhile, went to Cate Blanchett for American movie Tár, directed by Todd Field, fifteen years after her first Volpi Cup which she nabbed via Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There in 2007.

In the Orizzonti section, jury president Isabel Coixet singled out Iranian film World War III by Houman Seyedi as Best Film, and its protagonist Mohsen Tanabandeh as Best Actor. Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, and actress Vera Gemma steal focus among the European victors, having been crowned Best Directors and Best Actress respectively for their hybrid documentary/fiction film Vera [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
film profile]. The Special Jury Prize also went to a European film, Poland's Bread and Salt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damian Kocur
film profile], directed by Damian Kocur, while Best Screenplay went to the co-production between Chile, Mexico, Luxembourg, France and Poland Blanquita [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], directed by Chile’s Fernando Guzzoni.

The award for Best Short Film within the Orizzonti section was bestowed upon Snow in September, a co-production between France and Mongolia, directed by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir.

And, last but not least, in the Orizzonti Extra section, the Audience Award was bagged by Nezouh [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the new film by Syrian director Soudade Kaadan, who previously won the Luigi De Laurentis First Film Award – Future Lion in 2018 for her debut movie The Day I Lost My Shadow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Soudade Kaadan
film profile].

The awards:

Competition

Golden Lion for Best Film
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed - Laura Poitras (USA)

Silver Lion - Grand Jury Prize
Saint Omer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Diop
interview: Kayije Kagame
film profile] - Alice Diop (France)

Silver Lion - Award for Best Director
Luca Guadagnino - Bones and All [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Italy/USA)

Volpi Cup for Best Actress
Cate Blanchett - Tár (USA)

Volpi Cup for Best Actor
Colin Farrell - The Banshees of Inisherin [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Ireland/UK/USA)

Award for Best Screenplay
Martin McDonagh - The Banshees of Inisherin

Special Jury Prize
No Bears - Jafar Panahi (Iran)

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Talent
Taylor Russell - Bones and All

Orizzonti

Best Film
World War III - Houman Seyedi (Iran)

Best Director
Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel - Vera [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
film profile] (Austria)

Special Jury Prize
Bread and Salt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damian Kocur
film profile] - Damian Kocur (Poland)

Best Actress
Vera Gemma - Vera

Best Actor
Mohsen Tanabandeh - World War III

Best Screenplay
Blanquita [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Fernando Guzzoni (Chile/Mexico/Luxembourg/France/Poland)

Best Short Film
Snow in September - Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France/Mongolia)

Orizzonti Extra

Audience Award
Nezouh [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Soudade Kaadan (UK/Syria/France)

Lion of the Future - "Luigi de Laurentiis" Award for a Debut Film
Saint Omer - Alice Diop

Venice Classics

Best Restored Film
Branded to Kill - Seijun Suzuki (Japan)

Best Documentary on Cinema
Fragments of Paradise - KD Davison (USA)

Venice Immersive

Best Experience
The Man Who Couldn't Leave - Chen Singing (Taiwan)

Grand Jury Prize
From the Main Square - Pedro Harres (Germany)

Special Jury Prize
Eggscape - German Heller (Argentina)

(Translated from Italian)