email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

VENICE 2018 Awards / Competition / Orizzonti

Roma triumphs in Venice, with Guillermo del Toro passing the baton to Alfonso Cuarón

by 

- VENICE 2018: The Netflix film wins the Golden Lion, handed to Cuarón by his fellow countryman and previous winner of the award, while the Grand Jury Prize goes to Yorgos Lanthimos for The Favourite

Roma triumphs in Venice, with Guillermo del Toro passing the baton to Alfonso Cuarón
Alfonso Cuarón with his Golden Lion (© La Biennale di Venezia - foto ASAC)

Alfonso Cuarón has won the 75th edition of the Venice International Film Festival for his film, Roma, and with fellow countryman Guillermo del Toro handing out the award - as President of the Jury and Golden Lion winner of the previous edition of the festival for The Shape of Water - a real passing of the baton has taken place. In perfect Italian, the director expressed his gratitude: “Thank you so much to the Festival for its ongoing support of the film, and to the jurors… this award is incredibly important to me”. Thanks – in English – also went to Netflix, who produced the film, and to the entire team who worked on this beautiful black and white film, set in Mexico City in the 1970s. “The work you put in can be seen in each and every frame of the film”. Impassioned thanks also went to the actors, “for the immense respect shown in portraying the women who raised me”. Cuarón also revealed that today is the birthday of the woman who inspired the central character of the film, young nanny Cleo, played by Yalitza Aparicio.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

The Grand Jury Prize, meanwhile, was taken home by the controversial director, Yorgos Lanthimos, competing in the festival with The Favourite [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, who quickly thanked, among others, the three “wonderful women whom I’ve had the opportunity to work with”, referring to the actresses Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz. And it was Olivia Colman who scooped the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her convincing portrayal of Anna Stuart, who reigned over England between 1702 and 1714. Olivia Colman also tried to speak in Italian with a certain degree of success, insisting: “I feel honoured that Venice has fallen in love with our film”.

The Volpi Cup for Best Actor was awarded to Willem Dafoe for his portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh in At Eternity’s Gate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julian Schnabel
film profile
]
by Julian Schnabel. The actor reminded us how he had been adopted by Italy and the Venice Film Festival some time ago: “I first came here thirty years ago with Martin Scorsese”, before getting started on his thanks: “Van Gogh said: ‘I am my paintings’. Julian Schnabel is this film, which he made with love, generosity and a real sense of fun”.

The Best Director award went to French filmmaker Jacques Audiard for his extraordinary work, The Sisters Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile
]
. Audiard sent his thanks via a video-message: “This award, as well as making me proud, also reassures me”.

The award for Best Screenplay was won by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for their anthology film, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Not being in attendance, the Coen brothers’ award was accepted on their behalf by the actor, Tim Blake Nelson, who plays one of the lead characters in the Netflix western film. The Special Jury Prize rather surprisingly went to The Nightingale, directed by Jennifer Kent (who said: “the power of women is the most powerful force on the planet and we will see ever more and more women in film in the future!”), while the Mastroianni Award for emerging actors and actresses was bagged by the highly deserving Baykali Ganambarr, the aboriginal guide in The Nightingale. Baykali thanked the director “for having told the story of our past in Tasmania truthfully”.

Moving on to the Horizons section, the jury piloted by the Greek director, screenwriter and producer, Athina Tsangari, handed the Best Film Award to Manta Ray [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Thai filmmaker Phuttiphong Aroonpheng and to Emir Baigazin for The River [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emir Baigazin
film profile
]
. The Special Jury Prize, meanwhile, went to Turkish director Mahmut Fazil Coşkun for The Announcement [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun
film profile
]
. Actors receiving prizes were Natalya Kudryashowa for The Man Who Surprised Everyone [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
and Kais Nashif for Tel Aviv On Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sameh Zoabi
film profile
]
; and finally, Pema Tseden bagged an award for his Jinpa screenplay, as did the short film A Gift (Kado) by Aditya Ahmad.

Out of the 19 first films seen by the Luigi de Laurentiis jury, the winner of the Award for a Debut Film turned out to be The Day I Lost My Shadow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Soudade Kaadan
film profile
]
by Syrian director Soudade Kaadan, who was handed two cheques worth 50,000 dollars each (one being earmarked for production).

Susanne Bier handed out the prize to the three winning titles of the Venice Virtual Reality section, enthusing that the jury had had the privilege of looking through a “thrilling window onto the future”, while The Great Buster: A Celebration by Peter Bogdanovich was crowned Best Documentary on Cinema for its study of the great Buster Keaton.

Last, but not least, as we know, the Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion was awarded to Vanessa Redgrave and David Cronenberg.

Here is the complete list of winners at the 75th edition of the Venice Film Festival:

Competition

Golden Lion
Roma - Alfonso Cuarón (Mexico)

Silver Lion - Grand Jury Prize
The Favourite [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 -
Yorgos Lanthimos (Ireland/United Kingdom/United States)

Silver Lion - Award for Best Director
Jacques Audiard - The Sisters Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile
]
 (United States/France/Romania/Spain)

Special Jury Prize
The Nightingale - Jennifer Kent (Australia)

Volpi Cup for Best Actress
Olivia Colman - The Favourite

Volpi Cup for Best Actor
Willem Dafoe - At Eternity’s Gate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julian Schnabel
film profile
]
 (United States/France/United Kingdom)

Award for Best Screenplay
Joel & Ethan Coen - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (United States)

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Talent
Baykali Ganambarr - The Nightingale

Lion of the Future - "Luigi de Laurentiis" Award for a Debut Film
The Day I Lost My Shadow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Soudade Kaadan
film profile
]
 - Soudade Kaadan (Syria/Lebanon/France/Qatar)

Orizzonti

Best Film
Manta Ray [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 - Phuttiphong Aroonpheng (Thailand/France/China)

Best Director
Emir Baigazin - The River [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emir Baigazin
film profile
]
 (Kazakhstan/Poland/Norway/Netherlands)

Special Jury Prize
The Announcement [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun
film profile
]
 - Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun (Turkey/Bulgaria)

Best Actress
Natalya Kudryashova - The Man Who Surprised Everyone [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (Russia/Estonia/France)

Best Actor
Kais Nashif - Tel Aviv On Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sameh Zoabi
film profile
]
(Luxembourg/Belgium/Israel/France)

Best Screenplay
Pema Tseden - Jinpa (China)

Best Short Film
A Gift (Kado) - Aditya Ahmad (Indonesia)

Venice Classics

Best Restored Film
The Night of the Shooting Stars - Paolo & Vittorio Taviani (Italy)

Best Documentary on Cinema
The Great Buster: A Celebration - Peter Bogdanovich (United States)

Venice Virtual Reality

Best VR
Spheres - Eliza McNitt (United States/France)

Best Experience
Buddy VR - Chuck Chae (South Korea)

Best Story
L'Île des morts - Benjamin Nuel (France)

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy