The 80th Venice Film Festival has handed out its accolades, and some of the exemplary works by filmmakers and actors were recognised on stage. Among others. Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film, Poor Things, starring Emma Stone, has won the top award. Furthermore, American actor Peter Sarsgaard won Best Actor for his gripping performance as a man suffering from dementia in the film Memory. Here is the entire list of winners:
Poor Things, helmed by Yorgos Lanthimos, won the Golden Lion. It is based on Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel of the same name, and Emma Stone portrays the character of Bella Baxter. It also stars popular names such as Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo. The film follows the tale of Bella Baxter, who is resurrected by a scientist and, after a whirlwind learning curve, runs off with a lawyer and embarks on a series of adventures free of society’s judgements of the time. Upon receiving the award, the director mentioned that the film wouldn’t exist without Emma Stone, who was also a producer. “This film is her, in front and behind the camera,” said Yorgos Lanthimos during his speech, as quoted by ETimes.
Peter Sarsgaard, who accepted the award for Best Actor for his role in Memory, expressed concern about the expanding usage of artificial intelligence in film during his victory speech. He said, as quoted by WION, “This holy experience of being human will be handed over to the machines and the eight billionaires who own them. So if we lose that battle in the strike, our industry will be the first of many to fall.” Further, Cailee Spaeny won Best Actress for her depiction of Priscilla Presley in the film Priscilla.
Matteo Garrone secured the Silver Lion Best Director for Io Capitano, and Seydou Sarr received the award for Best Young Actor for the film. The movie follows the journey of two young boys from Dakar, Senegal, via a Libyan prison and then across the Mediterranean to Europe.
The Special Jury Prize went to Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border, which is about Europe’s other migration issue on the Polish-Belarus border. A report by Etimes quoted Agnieszka Holland’s acceptance speech, in which the director said, “People are still hiding in forests, deprived of their dignity of their human rights, of their safety, and some of them will lose their lives here in Europe, not because we don’t have the resources to help them but because we don’t want to.”
Here’s the list of winners at the 80th Venice Film Festival:
Golden Lion
Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos
Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize
Evil Does Not Exist, Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Silver Lion Best Director
Matteo Garrone, Io Capitano
Special Jury Prize
Green Border, Agnieszka Holland
Best Screenplay
Pablo Larrain and Guillermo Calderón, El Conde
Best Actress
Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla
Best Actor
Peter Sarsgaard, Memory
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress
Seydou Sarr, Io Capitano
HORIZONS
Best Film
Explanation For Everything, Gábor Reisz
Best Director
Mika Gustafson, Paradise Is Burning
Special Jury Prize
Una Sterminata Domenica, Alain Parroni
Best Actress
Margarita Rosa De Francisco, El Paraiso
Best Actor
Tergel Bold-Erdene, City of Wind
Best Screenplay
El Paraiso, Enrico Maria Artale
Best Short Film
A Short Trip, Erenik Beqiri
Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film
Love Is A Gun, Lee Hong-Chi
HORIZONS EXTRA
Audience Award
FELICITÀ (HAPPINESS), Micaela Ramazzotti
VENICE CLASSICS
Best Documentary
Thank You Very Much, Alex Braverman
Best Restored Film
OHIKKOSHI (MOVING), Shinji Somai
VENICE IMMERSIVE
Grand Jury Prize
Songs For A Passerby, Celine Daemen
Special Jury Prize
Flow, Adriaan Lokman
Immersive Achievement Prize
Emperor, Marion Burger, Ilan Cohen
