WINNERS OF THE 2023 VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

The 80th annual Venice Film Festival has officially concluded and "Poor Things", Yorgos Lanthimos' fantastical sci-fi black comedy, received the top prize of the Golden Lion. The story involves a young Victorian woman (played by Emma Stone) who is crudely resurrected by a mad scientist (Willem Dafoe) who then runs off on a journey where she discovers her womanhood and sexuality. The Greek filmmaker honored his star, Stone, who was unable to attend the fest due to the ongoing actors strike, by dedicating the award to her during his acceptance speech.

The Grand Jury Prize went to "Evil Does Not Exist", Ryusuke Hamaguchi's follow-up to his acclaimed 2021 drama, "Drive My Car". The story is about a man and his young daughter living in a small village outside Tokyo and discovers the plans to disturb the quiet area with a camping development for city dwellers.

Best Director went to Matteo Garrone for his latest, "Io capitano" which tells the story of two young men from Dakar who make their way across Africa in a harrowing journey to Europe. One of the leads of the film, Seydou Sarr won The Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Performance by an Emerging Actor or Actress.

Pablo Larraín and Guillermo Calderón won Best Screenplay for "El Conde (The Count)" with director Larraín's political satire involving the idea that what if the Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet never really died because he was a blood-sucking vampire. The film will be available to stream on Netflix beginning September 15th.

Cailee Spaeny received the Best Actress prize for her performance in the title role of "Priscilla", Sofia Coppola's bio-pic on the complicated love affair between the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley and his teenage bride. Peter Sarsgaard won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his work in Michel Franco's "Memory" where he plays a man who reconnects with a fellow student (Jessica Chastain) during their high school reunion that impacts them both in surprising ways.

Here is a partial list of winners of the 2023 Venice Film Festival:

Golden Lion: "Poor Things"
Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize: "悪は存在しない (Evil Does Not Exist)"
Special Jury Prize: "Zielona granica (Green Border)"
Silver Lion Best Director: Matteo Garrone, "Io Capitano"



Best Screenplay: Pablo Larrain and Guillermo Calderón, "El Conde (the Count)"
Best Actress: Cailee Spaeny, "Priscilla"
Best Actor: Peter Sarsgaard, "Memory"
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Seydou Sarr, "Io Capitano"
Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film: Lee Hong-Chi, "Love is a Gun"



Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: Tony Leung Chiu-wai

2023 VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

The Venice Film Festival, about to celebrate its eightieth year making this the world's oldest annual film event, will be held August 30th through September 9th on the island of the Lido in the Venice Lagoon. American filmmaker, Damien Chazelle has been chosen to preside over the jury which will select the prizes for this year’s edition as President. His fellow jurors are an impressive group of international figures in cinema: Palestinian actor, Saleh Bakri; New Zealand filmmaker, Jane Campion; French filmmaker, Mia Hansen-Løve; Italian filmmaker, Gabriele Mainetti; British-Irish filmmaker, Martin McDonagh; Argentine filmmaker, Santiago Mitre; American filmmaker, Laura Poitras and Taiwanese actress, Shu Qi.

The films in competition include the latest works by some of the world's greatest filmmakers. This includes Luc Besson ("Dog Man"), Bradley Cooper ("Maestro"), Sofia Coppola ("Priscilla"), Ava DuVernay ("Origin"), David Fincher ("The Killer"), Michel Franco ("Memory"), Matteo Garrone ("Io Capitano"), Ryusuke Hamaguchi ("Evil Does Not Exist"), Agnieszka Holland ("The Green Border"), Yorgos Lanthimos ("Poor Things"), Pablo Larrain ("El Conde"), and Michael Mann ("Ferrari").









Luca Guadagnino's tennis drama, "Challengers" was originally scheduled to have its premiere as the festival's opening film, but its release has been delayed due to the ongoing WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes ("Challengers" will now be released next spring). "Comandante", an Italian war drama directed by Edoardo De Angelis, will now open the fest. Set during WWII, the war submarine, Comandante Cappellini sinks the Belgian ship, Kabalo. The Italian captain (Pierfrancesco Favino) of the Comandante decides to disobey orders and attempt to rescue the Kabalo's crew.

A few highlights of films premiering Out-of-Competition are Harmony Korine's new feature, "Aggro Dr1ft", an experimental drama featuring musician, Travis Scott; a remake of the legal drama, "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" which will be the final feature film by the late William Friedkin; "Hit Man", an action-comedy by Richard Linklater that stars Glen Powell, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Linklater; and new films by two very controversial directors: "The Palace", a dark comedy by Roman Polanski and the fiftieth feature film by the eighty-seven year old, Woody Allen, "Coup de chance (Stroke of Luck)", a French-language thriller that stars Niels Schneider, Lou de Laage and Melvil Poupaud.





The Closing Night Film will be "La Sociedad De La Nieve (Society of The Snow)" from J.A. Bayona. This dramatic thriller tells the true story of a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashes on a glacier in the Andes in 1972 and the few passengers who lived find themselves struggling to survive in extremely harsh conditions. This is an Out of Competition screening, and the film will be released by Netflix.



And this year's recipient of Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award, which began in 2006 and honors the careers of people who have made a significant contribution to cinema, will be Wes Anderson. His latest, "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar", a short film based on story by Roald Dahl, will make its world premiere screening at the fest and can be seen on Netflix in September.

COMING SOON

Yorgos Lanthimos, the Greek filmmaker who has an impressive gift of making his absurdist, dark comedies like "Dogtooth", "The Lobster" and "The Favourite" appealing and poignant to a wide audience, will be returning soon with his latest offbeat comedy. "Poor Things", based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray, has Emma Stone (reuniting with Lanthimos following her Oscar-nominated performance in "The Favourite") playing a recently deceased 19th century young woman who is resurrected by a scientist (Willem Dafoe). With a strong desire to explore the world, she tales off with an unscrupulous lawyer (Mark Ruffalo) and begins to live life on her terms, demanding equality and liberation. Ramy Youssef, Margaret Qualley, Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott and Kathryn Hunter also star.

"Poor Things" is due in US theaters on September 8, 2023 December 8, 2023