The 80th Venice International Film Festival made history. The Golden Lion of the jubilee edition of the oldest film festival in the world went to the film “Poor Things” by Yorgos Lanthimos. The Special Jury Award was received by Agnieszka Holland for the film “The Green Border”.
The 80th Venice International Film Festival is behind us. On Saturday evening, the awards of the jubilee edition of the oldest film festival in the world were presented. About Zloty Lion 23 films competed, assessed by an international jury led by American filmmaker Damien Chazell, creator of, among others, Oscar winners “Whiplash” and “La La Land”.
The jury included: the renowned Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri, the legendary New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion, one of the most interesting French directors and actresses Mia Hansen-Love, the outstanding British-Irish playwright, director and screenwriter Martin McDonagh, one of the most interesting Argentine directors and screenwriters Santiago Miter, Italian filmmaker Gabriele Mainetti, Hong Kong-Taiwanese actress and model Shu Qi, and legendary American documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, whose “All That Beauty and Blood” won the Golden Lion last year as the second documentary in history (the first was ” “Roman Halo” directed by Gianfranco Rosi in 2013).
The big winner and winner of the Golden Lion – as previously predicted – turned out to be “Poor Things” by Yorgos Lanthimos. Nominated for three times Oscar the Greek filmmaker received the Grand Special Jury Prize in 2018 for “The Favourite”.
The second most important prize in the Main Competition went to “Aku wa Sonzai Shinai” directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Venice International Film Festival – the oldest film festival in the world
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest event of this type in the world and one of the so-called Big Five, alongside the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, the Sundance Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Every year, the Venetian island of Lido is filled with the biggest stars of both original and mainstream cinema. The verdict of the Italian festival is often a forecast before the Oscar season.
In the history of the Golden Lion so far, only two Polish artists have been honored with this award. These were Krzysztof Zanussi in 1984 for the film “The Year of the Quiet Sun” and Krzysztof Kieślowski in 1993 for “Three Colors. Blue”.
Venice 2023. List of winners
Golden Lion – “Poor Things” dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize – “Aku wa Sonzai Shinai” dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Silver Lion for best director – Matteo Garrone “Io Capitano”
Award for the best script – Pablo Larraín and Guillermo Calderón “El Conde” (dir. Pablo Larraín)
Volpi Cup for best actress – Cailee Spaeny for her role in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla”.
Volpi Cup for the best actor – Peter Sarsgaard for his role in the film “Memory” by Michel Franco
Special Jury Prize – “The Green Border” dir. Agnes Holland
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor – Seydou Sarr for his role in “Io Capitano” directed by Matteo Garrone
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/ETTORE FERRARI