The Venice Film Festival is revealing its award winners, including the prestigious Golden Lion for best film.
Last year, Jim Jarmusch took home the top prize for his family triptych “Father Mother Sister Brother,” while Benny Safdie won the Silver Lion for best director for his Dwayne Johnson-led “The Smashing Machine” and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Gaza drama “The Voice of Hind Rajab” was awarded the grand jury prize.
Ben Hania is serving on this year’s competition jury, which is headed by president Maggie Gyllenhaal. Other jury members include Hong Kong filmmaking giant Johnnie To, Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat, French director and screenwriter Xavier Giannoli, “The Brutalist” composer Daniel Blumberg and U.S.-based Italian film academic Francesco Casetti.
Films in the running for the Golden Lion include Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime,” Danny Boyle’s “Ink,” Casey Affleck’s “Company,” Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s “NAZA,” Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Look Back,” Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine,” Florian Zeller’s “Bunker” and more.
Throughout the ceremony, several took a moment to remember Oscar-winning British producer Jeremy Thomas, who died on Friday at the age of 77.
Gianluca Farinelli, head of Italy’s Bologna Film Archives and artistic director of Italy’s David di Donatello Awards, said: “He loved cinema; cinema made by humans and not by AI. He deeply loved our country. He produced masterpieces, also by great Italian directors.”
Thomas won a best picture Oscar for Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Last Emperor” in 1988, one of nine Academy Awards for the film. He would make five features across 17 years with the Italian director.
Added Italian actor and producer Riccardo Scamarcio, who won the Horizons best actor prize for “The Children of the “Monkey”: “Jeremy, a great man of cinema. I salute you, my friend!”
See the list of Venice award winners below, updating live.
Best Screenplay: “Un Bon Petit Soldat” (“A Good Little Soldier”) — Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo, Olivier Gorce
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Mathilde Arcel, “Woman Unknown”
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: John Malkovich, “Wild Horse Nine”
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor: Malou Khebizi, “15/18 (A Place to Heal)”
Armani Beauty Audience Award: “Eu contez” (“I Matter”), Alina Șerban
Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Debut Film: “La maison du vent” (“House of the Wind”), Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
Best Film: “Un détour par Diane” (“Diane in the Loop”), Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni
Best Director: Jaqueline Lentzou, “Mia Mera Sti Zoi Tis Tzo: Kefalaio Faidra” (“A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra”)
Special Jury Prize: “La maison du vent” (“House of the Wind”), Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
Best Actress: Laleh Marzban, “Moragheb” (“Falling House”)
Best Actor: Riccardo Scamarcio, “I figli della scimmia” (“The Children of the Monkey”)
Best Screenplay: Tommaso Landucci and Damiano Femfert, “I figli della scimmia” (“The Children of the Monkey”)
Best Short Film: “Quelques instants de bonheur” (“A Few Moments of Happiness”), Shaden Safieddine Tazi
Best Restored Film: “La lunga notte del ’43” (“Long Night of 1943”), Florestano Vancini
Grand Prize: “The Pigeon Ring,” Shixin Tao and Yuqi Zhang
Special Jury Prize: “Out of the Ashes,” Rory Mitchell and Nonny de la Peña
Achievement Prize: “Empire at Sea,” Peter Flaherty