by Federico Greco

For the 59th Venice Film Festival the Gold Lion award for best film went to Peter Mullan's controversial film The Magdalene Sisters [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. As he says in the interview during the award ceremony press conference, he tried to expose one of the great injustices of the 20th century by the Catholic Magdalene Asylums of Ireland. He also hopes his win will get people, especially young women, to see his film.
The Coppa Volpi for Best Actor instead went to Italian actor Stefano Accorsi, for the extreme role he played in Michele Placido’s Un Viaggio chiamato Amore [+see also:
trailer
film profile], as he says, his first international prize.

See also the videos:
- Venice 2002 – The red carpet
- Venice 2002 – Stars on the Lido
- Venice 2002 – The guests: Sophia, mother and star