The Golden Lion of the Venice Film Festival goes to Movie “The Room Next Door” by the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. This was announced by the jury.
The drama tells of two Friends who are dealing with death Tilda Swinton plays a woman with terminal cancer who asks an old friend (Julianne Moore) for a complicated favor. She does not want to be alone at the moment of her self-imposed death. The film is based on the novel “What are you missing” by Sigrid Nunez.
Almodovar dedicated the award to his family and his two leading actresses Swinton and Moore. “They have performed a miracle,” he said. The film is about solidarity, but also about the right to a self-determined death. “People must have the freedom to live and die.”
Pedro Almodovar is the Spain’s most internationally known director. His film “All About My Mother” won an Oscar in 2000. The 74-year-old received another Oscar in 2003 for “Talk to Her.” “The Room Next Door” is his first English-language feature film.
© dpa/Joel C. Ryan
Other important awards at the film festival went to Australian actress Nicole Kidman for her role in “Babygirl” (best actress), the French actor Vincent Lindon for his part in “Jouer avec le feu” (best actor) and the Italian director Maura Delperowho received the Grand Jury Prize for her film “Vermiglio”.
Because of the death of her mother Nicole Kidman did not attend the awards ceremony.
On her behalf, director Halina Reijn read a message: “Today I arrived in Venice, only to learn shortly thereafter that my beautiful, brave mother Janelle Ann had passed away. I am in shock and need to go to my family, but this award is for her. She shaped me, she guided me and she made me. I am eternally grateful that I can pass her name on to all of you through Halina.” Kidman said she was heartbroken.
The Grand Jury Prize winner “Vermiglio” tells the story of the life of a family in an Italian mountain village during the Second World War. When a deserter turns up, the dynamics of the siblings are disrupted. The film focuses primarily on the female characters and their lives shaped by Catholicism and patriarchal structures.
Silver Lion for Brady Corbet
The Silver Lion for Best Director The American Brady Corbet won for “The Brutalist”. The historical drama tells the story of a Jewish architect who wants to start a new life in the USA after the Second World War. The main actor of the three-and-a-half-hour epic is Adrien Brody.
© AFP/MARCO BERTORELLO
Special Jury Prize for “April”
Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega won for “Ainda estou aqui” (international title: “I’m Still Here”) won the award for best screenplay. The drama tells the story of a family that experiences the cruel effects of the Brazilian military dictatorship in the 1970s.
A special jury prize was awarded to Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili for “April”. The drama is about a gynecologist who performs illegal abortions in rural Georgia. Kulumbegashvili, born in 1986, uses long takes in her film and combines documentary-like scenes with dream sequences.
The 81st Venice Film Festival, which began on August 28, are, alongside the Cannes Film Festival and the Berlinale, among the three most important in the world. In this year’s competition, 21 works competed for the prizes.
The awards were presented by an international jury chaired by French actress Isabelle Huppert. (dpa)
