The Alexander Payne-led Venice Film Festival jury weighed in and surprisingly tapped Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother with the Golden Lion prize for Best Picture of the festival. There were rumors of rifts within the jury and of Oscar nominee Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here) opting out of the awards presentation. The Voice of Hind Rajab was thought to have an inside shot at the top prize, but it received the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize.
Perhaps the most influential award of the evening could be Benny Safdie’s win for Best Director for The Smashing Machine. I doubt, as with Brady Corbet’s win last year, Safdie will follow suit into Oscar’s Best Director five, but it will undoubtedly lead many to more strongly consider Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Best Actor for his transformative performance.
Otherwise, nothing appeared to go as many thought it would. Here are your winners.
Golden Lion
Father Mother Sister Brother, dir: Jim Jarmusch
Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Silver Lion Best Director
Benny Safdie, The Smashing Machine
Special Jury Prize
Sotte le Nuvole; dir: Gianfranco Rosi
Best Screenplay
Valérie Donzelli, Gilles Marchand; A Pied d’oeuvre
Best Actor
Toni Servillo, La Grazia
Best Actress
Xin Zhilei, The Sun Rises on Un All
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress
Luna Wedler, Silent Friend
Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film
Short Summer, dir: Nastia Korkia
HORIZONS
Best Film
En El Camino, dir: David Pablos
Best Director
Anuparna Roy, Songs of Forgotten Trees
Special Jury Prize
Lost Land, dir: Akio Fujimoto
Best Actor
Giacomo Covi, A Year of School
Best Actress
Benedetta Porcaroli, The Kidnapping of Arabella
Best Screenplay
Ana Cristina Barragan, Hiedra
Best Short Film
Without Kelly, dir: Lovisa Siren
VENICE CLASSICS
Best Documentary On Cinema
Mata Hari, dirs: Joe Beshenkovsky, James A. Smith
Best Restored Film
Bashu, The Little Stranger, dir: Bahram Beyzaie
VENICE IMMERSIVE
Grand Prize
The Clouds are Two Thousand Meters Up, dir: Singing Chen
Special Jury Prize
Less Than 5g of Saffron, dir: Négar Motevalymeidanshah
Achievement Prize
A Long Goodbye, dirs: Kate Voet, Victor Maes
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The only positive about the mediocre Father Mother Sister Brother winning the Golden Lion is that now Charlotte Rampling may receive a Supporting Actress awards push. Safdie's award makes absolutely no sense, especially considering his competition included Lanthimos and Bigelow.
I heard La Grazia was horrible, so Servillo’s win is a shock for me.
Even though the new Jarmush film has been received rather cautiously, I am still very interested in it—based on Jarmush's filmography. Beyond that, I am most excited about The Smashing Machine and also some films that were overlooked at the awards ceremony, e.g., Bugonia, the new Ozon, A House of Dynamite, and No Other Choice by Park-chan Wook. Unfortunately, the new Assayas film has not been so well received, but it is actually a must-see for me.