With the 83rd Venice Film Festival now done and dusted, it’s time for the star-studded closing night and, of course, the awards. Ahead of the ceremony, frontrunners for the prestigious Golden Lion included Martin McDonagh’s tragicomic , Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s searing, Gaza-set documentary and Lee Chang-dong’s slow-burning drama . Meanwhile, when it comes to the acting prizes, the likes of ’s Jeon Do-yeon, ’s Robert Pattinson, ’s John Malkovich, ’s Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, and ’s Rooney and Kate Mara seemed to be in the lead.
Venice is notoriously difficult to predict – just last year, Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab seemed to be a shoo-in for the Golden Lion, before Alexander Payne’s jury awarded that top prize to Jim Jarmusch’s instead. Still, it’s worth noting that, so far in the 21st century, English-speaking jury presidents (John Boorman, Quentin Tarantino, Annette Bening, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Damien Chazelle) have tended to choose English-language winners (, , The Shape of Water, , , ). (Notable exceptions include Darren Aronofsky, whose jury picked the German-language Michael Mann’s, which chose the Korean thriller , and Sam Mendes’s, which opted for the Filipino drama .) With Maggie Gyllenhaal heading up the jury this time, this track record, in theory, gave an early advantage to Wild Horse Nine.
In the end, some of the presumed favourites emerged victorious, but there were also plenty of big surprises. Below, browse the winners’ list in full.
, May el-Toukhy
, Lee Chang-dong
, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
Silver Lion for Best Director: Ilya Khrzhanovsky,
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Mathilde Arcel,
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: John Malkovich,
Un bon petit soldat, Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo and Olivier Gorce
Marcello Mastroianni Award for emerging performer: Malou Khebizi, A Place to Heal
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: Ellen Burstyn and George Clooney
: Un détour par Diane, Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni
: Jacqueline Lentzou, A day in the life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra
: La maison du vent, Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
: Laleh Marzban,
: Riccardo Scamarcio,
: , Tommaso Landucci and Damiano Femfert
: Quelques instants de bonheur, Shaden Safieddine Tazi
Lion of the Future
Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film: La maison du vent, Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
La lunga notte del ’43, Florestano Vancini
Empire at Sea, Peter Flaherty
Out of the Ashes, Rory Mitchell and Nonny Peña
, Yuqi Zhang and Shixin Tao