The show must go on… and the Golden Lion must roar. The 77th Venice Film Festival wrapped up this weekend on the Lido, and awards were handed out despite this pandemic year changing the whole festival. 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. This year's winner is Nomadland, the somber and poetic Americana film from The Rider director Chloe Zhao starring Frances McDormand as a woman living out of her van. It is a quieter year at the Venice Film Festival than usual, with less films playing at the festival overall, and a reduced number of people in attendance (for safety reasons and due to travel restrictions). But the festival insisted it go on anyway, despite Cannes cancelling this year. But they still brought outstanding work from all over the world. The full list of Venezia 77 winners can be seen below.
Main Venice Awards
The Venezia Jury, chaired by Cate Blanchett, and comprised of Matt Dillon, Veronika Franz, Joanna Hogg, Nicola Lagioia, Christian Petzold, Ludivine Sagnier, having viewed all 18 films in competition, has decided:
Golden Lion for Best Film:
Nomadland by Chloe Zhao (USA)
Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize:
Nuevo Orden (New Order) by Michel Franco (Mexico, France)
Silver Lion Award for Best Director:
Kiyoshi Kurosawa for the film Wife of a Spy
Coppa Volpi for Best Actress:
Vanessa Kirby in the film Pieces of a Woman by Kornél Mundruczó
Coppa Volpi for Best Actor:
Pierfrancesco Favino in the film Padre Nostro by Claudio Noce
Award for Best Screenplay:
Chaitanya Tamhane for The Disciple by Chaitanya Tamhane
Special Jury Prize:
Dear Comrades! (Dorogie Tovarishchi!) by Andrei Konchalovsky
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress:
Rouhollah Zamani in the film Sun Children by Majid Majidi
"Luigi De Laurentiis" Venice Award for a Debut Film:
Listen by Ana Rocha de Sousa
Orizzonti Sidebar Awards
The Orizzonti Jury, chaired by Claire Denis and comprised of Oskar Alegria, Francesca Comencini, Katriel Schory, Christine Vachon, after screening the 19 films + 12 shorts in the competition has decided to award:
Orizzonti Award for Best Film:
Dashte Khamoush (The Wasteland) by Ahmad Bahrami (Iran)
Orizzonti Award for Best Director:
Genus Pan (Lahi, Hayop) by Lav Diaz (Philippines)
Special Orizzonti Jury Prize:
Listen by Ana Rocha de Sousa
That's all for now. For the full list of awards (including a few more), head to labiennale.org. Congratulations to all of the winners this year. As for my thoughts on these winners: they're fine. Nothing spectacular this year. More important that the festival ran smoothly and there weren't any outbreaks or major issues with health and safety. I am very happy to see Nomadland win, as it certainly deserves the Golden Lion; both Chloe Zhao and Frances McDormand for their incredible work crafting this film. It's a very strange year at Venice - while the festival did go on, and they did play films in cinemas with strict safety measures, it wasn't a normal year. They showed less films overall, there were less people in attendance (and many people from all over the world weren't even allowed to go to Italy), but it still ran well. And best of all - there were still excellent films. Despite this pandemic year altering nearly everything, there's no lack of great films to show.
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