Venezia83: Best of the fest

And the 83rd Venice Film Festival presented its top prize on Saturday to Danish-Egyptian filmmaker May el-Toukhy, the only female director in the official competition, for Woman Unknown. This was the main film I regretted missing at the festival, so I look forward to catching up with it at some point. The other three I most wanted to see but couldn't fit into my schedule (or couldn't get seats for) were Lance Oppenheim's Primetime, Hirokazu Kore-Eda's Look Back and Takashi Miike's Shumei. Here are the main prizes from the official competition and some of the parallel sections and independent juries. And below that are my favourites...

Golden Lion: Woman Unknown

Grand Jury Prize: Possible Love

Special Jury Prize: Naza

Director: Ilya Khrzhanovskiy (Dau)

Actress: Mathilde Arcel (Woman Unknown)

Actor: John Malkovich (Wild Horse Nine)

Screenplay: Coralie Amedeo, Stephane Brize, Olivier Gorce (A Good Little Soldier)

Mastroianni Award: Malou Khebizi (A Place To Heal)

Queer Lion: London and Queer Edward II

Leoncino d'Oro: Mr Nelson, Did You Kill People? 

Bisato d'Oro: Dau

Lion of the Future: Bernard Auguste Kouemo Yanghu (House of the Wind)

Orizzonti: Diane in the Loop 

Critics' Week: Before the War

Audience Award: Our Share of Sand

Venice Days: Sometimes Sadness, Sometimes Rebellion

Fipresci: Possible Love

Lifetime Achievement: Ellen Burstyn, George Clooney

Glory to the Filmmaker: Luca Guadagnino

Passion For Film: Serena Rossi

R I C H ’ S   F A V O U R I T E S

1. Naza (UK)
2. Wild Horse Nine (UK)
3. Possible Love (Korea)
4. A Good Little Soldier (France)
5. Queer Edward II (UK)
6. Moonfish (US)
7. London (Brazil)
8. Tijuana, Todavía (Mexico)
9. Dau (Germany)
10. Everest: The Other Side (US)

Honourable mention: Back to Buenos Aires (Italy). Guria (Georgia). Our Share of Sand (India). House of the Wind (Cameroon). No Paradise if You Are Killed by a Woman (Iraq). Musk (US). A Bit of Light (Iran). Lovers in the Blue Night (India). Hombre al Agua (Mexico). From Inside Out (Germany).

Full reviews of all of the films I've seen will be linked to Shadows' VENICE FILM FEST PAGE >