Venice winners

[Precious Doll]

'Lebanon' takes the Lion

Israeli war drama takes top kudo at Venice Film Festival

By NICK VIVARELLI, Variety

"Lebanon," a hard-hitting look at war from inside a military tank by Israeli helmer Samuel Maoz, based on his personal experience as a young soldier during his country’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, took the 66th Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion.
"I dedicate this award to all those thousands of people all over the world who came back from the war, like me, safe and sound. Apparently they are fine. They walk; get married; have children. But inside them, the memories will remain stuck in their souls," said the visibly moved Maoz as he was handed the statuette by jury prexy Ang Lee.

Reflecting a Lido edition marked by a panoply of pics depicting life through a political prism, the Silver Lion for best director went to New York-based Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat for her first feature "Women Without Men," a feminist tapestry interweaving the vicissitudes of four women from different social backgrounds affected by Iranian political turmoil prompted by Iran’s 1953 CIA-backed coup.

Neshat thanked her her offscreen partner and collaborator on "Women," helmer-artist Shoja Azari, before launching an appeal to the Iranian government to "give the people of Iran what they should have: basic human rights, freedom, democracy."

Turkish-German helmer Fatih Akin’s more lighthearted ensemble laffer "Soul Kitchen," set amid the hip and grungy multi-ethnic set in his native Hamburg, took the Special Jury prize.

In a curious twist, "Lebanon," "Women Without Men," and also "Soul Kitchen" will all be distributed in Italy by BIM Distribuzione whose topper, Valerio De Paolis, is known to have a nose for sniffing out pics that win Lions, Bears, and Palms. De Paolis picked up "Lebanon" at the fest from Celluloid Dreams.

Despite a strong U.S. presence this year, yank pics -- in marked contrast with past recent Venice editions - did not nab one of the top three nods. But that’s not to say yank titles went entirely empty-handed.

Colin Firth scooped the best actor nod for his potent turn as a gay college professor grieving for his dead lover in former fashion guru Tom Ford’s directorial debut "A Single Man." Ford’s self-produced pic set in early 1960’s Los Angeles is based on a seminal book by Christopher Isherwood.

Firth first thanked Italy for, among other things, giving him his wife, Italo producer and documaker Livia Giuggioli. He made most of his acceptance speech in Italian.

"I am here because of the gift that Tom Ford gave me," he said.

"He had a very very personal and precious thing, and he trusted me with it. So it became a very important thing for me as well."

The best screenplay nod went to Todd Solondz for his dark comedy "Life During Wartime." Solondz’s highly praised quasi sequel to "Happiness" ten years later, had been considered a frontrunner.

In a year that saw Italian movies at the Lido in droves, the Italos also scored pretty thinly.

Russian actress Xenia Rappoport took the actress prize for her role as a chambermaid with a mysterious past in Italo first-timer Giuseppe Capotondi’s "The Double Hour," a contempo noir about romance, robbery and murder set amid the Turin speed-dating scene.

At the closing ceremony fest topper Marco Mueller noted that both main acting nods went to leads in first works.

The Marcello Mastroianni prize for best young performer went to Italo actress Jasmine Trinca for her role as a young Catholic girl who becomes ideologically and sentimentally entangled during the 1968 protest movement in Michele Placido’s "The Big Dream."

The $100,000 Luigi De Laurentiis Lion of the Future award for best first work went to 22-year-old helmer Pepe Diokno’s "Enkwentro," about gangs and vigilante squads clashing in The Philippines. "Enkwentro" scored an impressive double whammy also picking up the nod in Horizons, the section in which it unspooled.

The new Controcampo Italiano nod dedicated to new trends in Italian cinema also went to a first work "Cosmonauta," a Rome-set comedy about a young girl who is a passionate Communist, set in the 1950’s when Italy had the largest Communist Party in Western Europe.

Venice’s 66th edition was generally praised for Marco Mueller’s wide-ranging selection of movies, comprising plenty of first works and genre movies, in contrast with Cannes where this was the year of the name auteurs.

Gripes were however sparked by several screening delays and interruptions due to tech troubles in synching subtitles and prints with the fest’s digital projection system.

PRIZES OF THE 66TH VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION JURY

GOLDEN LION "Lebanon" (Samuel Maoz, Israel-France-Germany)

SILVER LION "Women Without Men" (Shirin Neshat, Germany-Austria-France)

GRAND JURY PRIZE "Soul Kitchen" (Fatih Akin, Germany)

ACTOR Colin Firth ("A Single Man," US)

ACTRESS Ksenia Rappoport ("The Double Hour," Italy)

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI PRIZE FOR YOUNG PERFORMER Jasmine Trinca ("The Big Dream," Italy)

BEST SCREENPLAY Todd Solondz

("Life During Wartime," US)

TECHNICAL CONTRIBUTION for Set Design Sylvie Olive ("Mr Nobody," Jaco Van Dormael, France)

OTHER JURIES

LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS LION OF THE FUTURE "Engkwentro," (Pepe Diokno, Philippines)

VENICE HORIZONS "Engkwentro" (Pepe Diokno, Philippines)

VENICE HORIZONS DUCUMENTARY "1428," (Du Haibin (China)

VENICE HORIZONS SPECIAL MENTION "The Man’s Woman And Other Stories," (Amit Dutta, India)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO "Cosmonauta," Susanna Nichiarelli (Italy)

Special Mention "Negli Occhi," Daniele Anzillotti and Francesco Del Grosso (Italy)

Label Europa Cinemas – Venice Days 2009 Prize "The Last Days of Emma Blank," (Alex van Warmerdam, The Netherlands)

FIPRESCI (INTL. CRITIC'S ASSN) COMPETITION PRIZE Lourdes," (Jessica Hausner, Austria)

FIPRESCI HORIZONS AND CRITICS’ WEEK PRIZE "Adrift." (Bui Thac Chuyen, Vietnam–France)

SHORTS

Corto Cortissimo Lion for Best Short Film "First Born," (Etienne Kallos, South Africa-US)

Best European Short "Sinner," (Meni Philip Israel)

Corto Cortissimo Special Mention "Felicità," (Salome Aleksi, Georgia)