Venice 2018: Alfonso Cuarón's 'Roma' Wins the Golden Lion Award ~ Cinenus

The 75th Venice Film Festival wrapped up this weekend on the Lido, and the awards were handed out. The top prize at Venice is a Golden Lion (in honor of the iconic lion that is the symbol of the city) and it's one of the greatest achievements in cinema, along with the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. This year's big winner is Alfonso Cuarón's Roma taking the Golden Lion, his epic new B&W drama that floats through Mexico in the 1970s, taking us back to his youth. This is also a big win for Netflix, which produced and will be releasing the film later this year. I was rooting for Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale to win, but it at least received a Special Jury Prize which makes me happy. The full list of Venezia 75 winners can be found below.

Main Venice Awards

The Venezia 75 Jury, chaired by Guillermo del Toro, and comprised of Sylvia Chang, Trine Dyrholm, Nicole Garcia, Paolo Genovese, Malgorzata Szumowska, Taika Waititi, Christoph Waltz, and Naomi Watts having viewed all 21 films in competition, has decided:

Golden Lion for Best Film:
Roma by Alfonso Cuarón (Mexico)

Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize:
The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos (UK, Ireland, USA)

Silver Lion Award for Best Director:
Jacques Audiard for the film The Sisters Brothers

Coppa Volpi for Best Actress:
Olivia Colman in the film The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos

Coppa Volpi for Best Actor:
Willem Dafoe in the film At Eternity's Gate by Julian Schnabel

Award for Best Screenplay:
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Special Jury Prize:
The Nightingale by Jennifer Kent (Australia)

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress:
Baykali Ganambarr in the film The Nightingale by Jennifer Kent

"Luigi De Laurentiis" Venice Award for a Debut Film:
The Day I Lost My Shadow (Yom Adaatou Zouli) by Soudade Kaadan

Venice Classics Awards

The Venice Classics Jury, chaired by Salvatore Mereu, composed of 25 cinema history students – nominated by their professors – from Italian universities, DAMS performing arts courses, and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, has decided to award:

Venice Classics Award for Best Documentary on Cinema:
The Great Buster: A Celebration by Peter Bogdanovich

Venice Classics Award for Best Restored Film:
The Night of the Shooting Stars (La Notte di San Lorenzo) by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani (Italy, 1982)

That's all for now. For the full list of awards (including VR), head to labiennale.org. Congratulations to all of the winners this year. I'm very happy for all of the winners, because almost all of my favorite films received awards: The Nightingale, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Favourite. I'm not surprise that First Man didn't win anything, but it's another one of my favorites. Based on the buzz, I was expecting either Cuarón's Roma or Audiard's The Sister Brothers to win the Golden Lion, and they both took home prizes so it all works out. Please try and see all these films whenever they play near you, at a festival or in the cinema once they open. This wraps up our coverage of the 2018 Venice Film Festival, but we will be back again next year.

Cinenus

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Sunday, 9 September 2018