The Venice Film Festival once again rewarded a director during its ceremony on Saturday September 10: documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras obtained the Golden Lion on Saturday for her documentary which highlights the career of photographer Nan Goldin, figure of the New York underground, and his fight against opiates in the United States. But the festival also awarded a special jury prize to Jafar Panahi, an Iranian director imprisoned in his country since July.
At 58, director Laura Poitras, originally from Boston, won her second major prize, after the Oscar for best documentary for Citizenfour (2015), directed alongside whistleblower Edward Snowden. No shattering revelations this time in All the Beauty and the Bloodshedbut a journey through the life of Nan Goldin, 68-year-old photographer known for her shots of the New York underground and who has lived so closely with death, from AIDS to the opioid crisishis last fight.
‘Cause Nan Goldin took the lead in a David versus Goliath fight against opioid producerspainkillers that have addicted and killed half a million Americans over the past two decades.
French filmmaker Alice Diop also scored twice, winning the Grand Jury Prize and the First Film Prize for her first fiction, Saint-Omer, inspired by a news item and the trial that followed. Very moved, the filmmaker received her prize by highlighting her feminist fight, in particular that ” women of color “. Inspired by a true story of a trial for infanticide, his film seeks to explore ” the great universal question ” of our ” relation to motherhood “.
Political signal with the special jury prize to Jafar Panahi, imprisoned in Iran
But the Venice Film Festival also sent a political signal against Iranian censorship and power by awarding a special jury prize to Jafar Panahi, showing that it was not abandoning the director to his fate, imprisoned since July.
In his absence, the filmmaker was given a long standing ovation by the public in Venice, after the announcement of his award. Jailed in July after conviction for ” propaganda against the regime “, Panahi sent the festival last week a letter co-signed with his colleague Mohammad Rasoulof, also detained, in which they accuse Tehran of considering independent filmmakers “ like criminals “.
A major figure in Iranian cinema prevented by his imprisonment from coming to defend his film Bears don’t exist, Panahi delivers a mise en abyme, that of a creator locked up in his own country, the better to denounce oppression. Already winner of the Golden Lion in Venice in 2000 for The circleand the Screenplay Prize at Cannes in 2018 with Three Facesthree years after the Golden Bear in Berlin for Taxi Tehranthe 62-year-old director is a regular at the selections.
Cate Blanchett and Colin Farrell awarded for their interpretations
Australian actress Cate Blanchett has won Venice’s second acting award of her career, for her role as a power-drunk conductor in Tar, by Todd Field. The actress known for her feminist commitment delivers a marmoreal performance in this drama that evokes contemporary questions about identity, the abuse of power, or the ” cancel culture “.
Colin Farrell won the acting award on Saturday night for his role as a kind-hearted farmer in a darkly humorous comedy, The Banshees of Inisherin. In front of the camera of his compatriot Martin McDonagh (Kisses from Bruges), the 46-year-old Irishman shines in a parable about the violent end of a friendship in the bucolic setting of an isolated island in Ireland in the 1920s, at the time of the War of Independence.
Here are the winners of the main prizes awarded on Saturday evening during the closing ceremony of the 79th edition of the Venice Film Festival:
- Golden Lion for Best Film: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed by Laura Poitras (USA)
- Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize and Future Lion – Best First Work: Saint Omer by Alice Diop (France)
- Silver Lion – Best Direction Award: Italian Luca Guadagnino for Bones and all
- Best Actress Award: Australian Cate Blanchett for her role in Tar by Todd Field
- Best Actor Award: Irishman Colin Farrell for his role in The Banshees of Inisherin by Martin McDonagh
- Marcello Mastroianni Award for Most Promising Actor or Female: Actress Taylor Russell for her role in Bones and all by Luca Guadagnino
- Special Jury Prize: Bears don’t exist by Jafar Panahi (Iran)
- Best Screenplay Award: The Banshees of Inisherin by Irishman Martin McDonagh
(With AFP)