WINNERS OF THE 2021 VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

Female filmmakers dominated this year's jury prizes of the 78th annual Venice Film Festival. Audrey Diwan’s timely drama, "L’Evénement (Happening)" took the top prize of the Golden Lion. The French film, set in the 1960's, involves a promising young woman about to enter college when she discovers she's pregnant, forcing her to decide on finding a way to terminate. Diwan became the first female director to take Venice’s top prize since Sofia Coppola won for "Somewhere" in 2010.

After not making a feature film in twelve years, Jane Campion won the Silver Lion Best Director Award for her upcoming Netflix film, "The Power of the Dog". Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst star in this neo-western involving a rancher who thrives on instilling fear in those around him and after his brother arrives with a new wife and her son, he has new victims to torment yet their presence changes him.

Maggie Gyllenhaal won the Best Screenplay Award for her debut feature as a writer/director with, "The Lost Daughter", based on Elena Ferrante’s dark examination on motherhood. Penélope Cruz received the Best Actress prize for her performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s latest melodrama "Parallel Mothers". And Paolo Sorrentino won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize for "The Hand of God", a coming-of-age story about an awkward Italian teen (played by Filippo Scotti, who won the award for Best Young Actor) struggling to find his place, but finds comfort from his amazing yet complicated family.

Here is the list of winners from the 2021 Venice Film Festival:

Golden Lion for Best Film: "L’Evénement (Happenings)"
Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize: "È stata la mano di Dio (The Hand of God)"
Silver Lion Best Director: Jane Campion, "The Power of the Dog"
Best Screenplay: Maggie Gyllenhaal, "The Lost Daughter"
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Penélope Cruz, "Madres Paralelas (Parallel Mothers)"
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: John Arcilla, "On the Job: The Missing 8"



Special Jury Prize: Michelangelo Frammartino, "Il Buco"
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor: Filippo Scotti, "È stata la mano di Dio (The Hand of God)"
Luigi De Laurentis Award Best First Feature: Monica Stan and George Chiper-Lillemark, "Imaculat"

Orizzonti (Horizon) Awards:

Best Film: "Pilgrims"
Best Director: Eric Gravel, "Full Time"
Best Screenplay: Ivan Ostrochovský and Peter Kerekes, "107 Mothers"
Best Actress: Laure Calamy, "Full Time"
Best Actor: Piseth Chhun, "White Building"
Special Jury Prize: "El Gran Movimiento"
Best Short Film: "Los Huesos"

2021 VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

The 2021 Venice Film Festival is set to begin and will be an in-person event. And that means COVID controls will be in place with social distancing inside the theaters and vaccination status verification or a recent negative test will be required for entry in to screenings. The 78th annual international film fest will begin today and will be held until September 11th. This will be the first opportunity to see some of the upcoming films that will be released later this fall and winter.

The latest from Pedro Almodóvar, "Madres Paralelas (Parallel Mothers)" will open the festival and make it's world premiere. Penelope Cruz and Milena Smit star as two single pregnant women who each have different views on their impending accidental pregnancies and while they wait to give birth, the conversation they share will impact the rest of their lives. "Madres Paralelas" is due to be released in the US on December 24th.



The South Korean director, Bong Joon-ho was selected as this year's Jury President and his fellow jurors, Italian director/writer, Saverio Costanzo; Belgian actress, Virginie Efira; British actress and singer, Cynthia Erivo; Canadian actress, Sarah Gadon; Romanian-German director, Alexander Nanau and Chinese director/writer (and recent Oscar-winner), Chloé Zhao will decide on which films will receive prizes. Some of the films in the main international competition will include new works by Paolo Sorrentino ("È stata la mano di Dio (The Hand of God)"), Ana Lily Amirpour ("Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon"), Paul Schrader ("The Card Counter"), Jane Campion ("The Power of the Dog"), Pablo Larraín ("Spencer"), Mario Martone ("Qui rido io") and the directorial debut by actress, Maggie Gyllenhaal ("The Lost Daughter").







Denis Villeneuve’s highly anticipated sci-fi adventure, "Dune", that features an impressive all-star cast including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem, will be screened out of competition and makes it's world premiere at Venice. The film is set to be released in theaters and HBO Max on October 22nd.



Roberto Benigni, the Oscar-winning, Italian actor/filmmaker and actress, Jamie Lee Curtis will each receive an honorary Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. Curtis will also be on hand for the world premiere of her latest film, "Halloween Kills" from David Gordon Green. And Ridley Scott will receive this year's Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker award. The eighty-three year old British director of such cinematic classics as "Alien", "Gladiator" and "Blade Runner" will also screen his new work, "The Last Duel", a medieval action-thriller that stars, Matt Damon, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck and the very busy, Adam Driver.