NON-FICTION WINS

Cinema Biennale 2022

Non-fiction features were presented very vigorously at Cinema Biennale 2022 – in official selections: in and out of competition. GLI ULTIMI GIORNI DELL’UMANITÀ, Enrico Ghezzi, Alessandro Gagliardo; A COMPASSIONATE SPY, Steve James; MUSIC FOR BLACK PIGEONS, Jørgen Leth, Andreas Koefoed; IN VIAGGIO, Gianfranco Rosi; NUCLEAR, Oliver Stone; FREEDOM ON FIRE: UKRAINE’S FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, Evgeny Afineevsky – and that's not all the list. That's the reality of nowdays – to be IN reality, every day to look for the traces of the moments, which have just happened or could happen or will happen.

And it's not something unexpected, that GOLDEN LION for Best Film went to ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED by Laura Poitras (USA). It's a story about renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin - interviews, visual materials and very rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the opioid crisis. Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras with the emotional deepness concentrates on the protests to call attention to the toxic philanthropy of the Sackler family, whose company, Purdue Pharma, ignited the opioid epidemic with its blockbuster drug, OxyContin.

SILVER LION – GRAND JURY PRIZE went to SAINT OMER by Alice Diop (France). That's the debut fiction by documentarist Alice Diop. Ascetic trial drama. Intellectual and tricky narration. The story: a writer, Rama, attends the trial of a young African woman, Laurence, accused of killing her child.

SILVER LION – AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR went to Luca Guadagnino for the film BONES AND ALL (USA, Italy). And it's rather predictable decision of the Jury. That's a sensitive narration about first love between two young cannibal margins of society in 1980s Middle America. As the director writes: «I am interested in their emotional journeys. I want to see where the possibilities lie for them, enmeshed within the impossibility they face. The movie is for me a meditation on who I am and how I can overcome what I feel, especially if it is something I cannot control in myself. And lastly, and most importantly, when will I be able to find myself in the gaze of the other?». Finally, that's question/s for everybody.

The VENEZIA 79 Jury, chaired by Julianne Moore and comprised of Mariano Cohn, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Audrey Diwan, Leila Hatami, Kazuo Ishiguro and Rodrigo Sorogoyen, having viewed all 23 films in competition, has decided as follows:

GOLDEN LION for Best Film to: ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED by Laura Poitras (USA)

SILVER LION – GRAND JURY PRIZE to: SAINT OMER by Alice Diop (France)

SILVER LION – AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR to: Luca Guadagnino for the film BONES AND ALL (USA, Italy)

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actress: Cate Blanchett in the film TÁR by Todd Field (USA)

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actor: Colin Farrell in the film THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN by Martin McDonagh (Ireland, UK, USA)

AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY to: Martin McDonagh for the film THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN by Martin McDonagh (Ireland, UK, USA)

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to: KHERS NIST (NO BEARS) by Jafar Panahi (Iran)

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD for Best Young Actor or Actress to: Taylor Russell in the film BONES AND ALL by Luca Guadagnino (USA, Italy)

ORIZZONTI

The ORIZZONTI Jury of the 79th Venice Film Festival, chaired by Isabel Coixet and comprised of Laura Bispuri, Antonio Campos, Sofia Djama and Edouard Waintrop, after screening the 18 feature-length films and 12 short films in competition has decided to award:

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST FILM to: Jang-e Jahani Sevom (WORLD WAR III) by Houman Seyedi (Iran)

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel for the film VERA (Austria)

SPECIAL ORIZZONTI JURY PRIZE to: CHLEB I SÓL (BREAD AND SALT) by Damian Kocur (Poland)

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS to: Vera Gemma in the film VERA by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel (Austria)

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR to: Mohsen Tanabandeh in the film JANG-E JAHANI SEVOM (WORLD WAR III) by Houman Seyedi (Iran)

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY to: Fernando Guzzoni for the film BLANQUITA by Fernando Guzzoni (Chile, Mexico, Luxembourg, France, Poland)

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM to: SNOW IN SEPTEMBER by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France, Mongolia)

VENICE SHORT FILM NOMINATION FOR THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2022 to: SNOW IN SEPTEMBER by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France, Mongolia)

ORIZZONTI EXTRA

ARMANI BEAUTY AUDIENCE AWARD to: NEZOUH by Soudade Kaadan (UK, Syria, France)

VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM

LION OF THE FUTURE – “LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM Jury at the 79th Venice Film Festival, chaired by Michelangelo Frammartino and comprised of Jan Matuszyński, Ana Rocha de Sousa, Tessa Thompson and Rosalie Varda has decided to award:

LION OF THE FUTURE “LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM to: SAINT OMER by Alice Diop (France)

VENICE CLASSICS

The VENICE CLASSICS Jury, chaired by Giulio Base and comprised of 21 students of Cinema, chosen from the professors of Italian University Cinema programmes, has decided to award:

VENICE CLASSICS AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY ON CINEMA to: FRAGMENTS OF PARADISE by KD Davison (USA)

VENICE CLASSICS AWARD FOR BEST RESTORED FILM to: Koroshi no Rakuin (BRANDED TO KILL) by Suzuki Seijun (Japan, 1967)

VENICE IMMERSIVE

The VENICE IMMERSIVE Jury, chaired by May Abdalla and comprised of David Adler and Blanca Li, after viewing the 30 projects in competition has decided to award:

VENICE IMMERSIVE BEST EXPERIENCE to: THE MAN WHO COULDN’T LEAVE by Singing Chen (Taipei)

VENICE IMMERSIVE GRAND JURY PRIZE to: FROM THE MAIN SQUARE by Pedro Harres (Germany)

VENICE IMMERSIVE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to: EGGSCAPE by German Heller (Argentina)