The 73rd Venice Film Festival celebrated variety with its awards ceremony. The Golden Lion went to a challenging work from the Philippines, "The Woman Who Left," while other prizes went to quirky and provocative movies.
Image: 73rd Venice International Film Festival/Hazel
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Highlights of the 73rd Venice Film Festival awards
The world's oldest film festival is now considered a launch pad for the Academy Awards, attracting many top stars and filmmakers. Here are some of the highlights of the glamorous competition which closed on Saturday.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Monteforte
Golden Lion goes to master of slow cinema
Winning the festival's top award, Philippine director Lav Diaz's almost four-hour film "Ang Babaeng Humayo" ("The Woman Who Left") is actually short compared to the one he presented at the Berlinale earlier this year: "Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis" ("A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery") is an eight-hour work.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Monteforte
Silver Lion for a fashion designer
The Silver Lion went to designer-turned-filmmaker Tom Ford and "Nocturnal Animals," a spooky, stirring romantic thriller exploring love, betrayal and revenge. The film stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Fabi
Best screenplay: 'Jackie'
Natalie Portman stars as Jacqueline Kennedy in the bio-drama "Jackie." The film, by Chilean director Pablo Larrain, depicts the week after the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in 1963. It was written by Noah Oppenheim., who took home the award for best screenplay.
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling star in a quirky tale of an actress trying to make it in Los Angeles and her boyfriend, a struggling jazz pianist. "La La Land," directed by Damien Chazelle, pays tribute to the Golden Age of American musicals. Stone won the award for best actress for her performance.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/A. Marechal
Best actor: Oscar Martinez
The Argentine comedic drama "El Ciudadano Ilustre" ("The Distinguished Citizen"), by Gaston Duprat and Mariano Cohn, is about fame, idols and small-town jealousy. It was among the critics' favorites. Oscar Martinez won the award for best actor for his role as a cynical Nobel Prize laureate back in his hometown after years. He was also in the cast of the 2001 German movie, "Berlin is in Germany."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Monteforte
A cannibal tale takes special jury prize
Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey co-star in the horror-thriller "Bad Batch," directed by Ana Lily Amirpour (pictured). In this dystopian cannibal love story set in a futuristic United States, a young girl wanders a desert wasteland and gets sliced up.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Monteforte
Kusturica's last competition
Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica has said his latest work, "Na Mlijecnom Putu" ("On the Milky Road"), will be his last entry in a film festival. He starred in it himself, along with Italian actress Monica Bellucci. His first feature film, "Sjećaš li se Doli Bel?" ("Do You Remember Dolly Bell?"), won Kusturica a Golden Lion in 1981 - but didn't win anything this year.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Monteforte
Wenders also leaves empty-handed
Germany's star director Wim Wenders was also part of the competition with "The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez," starring singer-songwriter Nick Cave. The film was shot in 3D, yet limited the action to a couple's intimate conversation in a garden. Despite the inventive shooting style, it failed to win an award.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Best emerging actress: Germany's Paula Beer
Starring in French filmmaker Francois Ozon's "Frantz," Paula Beer portrayed a young woman who meets a French soldier while mourning her fiance, who died during World War I. The German actress won the award for her quiet and nuanced portrayal, said the judges.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Monteforte
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The 10-day festival, held on the glamorous Lido di Venezia, announced the winners of its official competition on Saturday. Twenty films were vying for the Golden Lion.
Instead of selecting one of the many Hollywood titles in the lineup, the jury headed by British filmmaker Sam Mendes ("American Beauty") gave the Golden Lion to "Ang Babaeng Humayo" ("The Woman Who Left") by Lav Diaz from the Philippines. The nearly four-hour long black-and-white film tells the story of the revenge wrought by a wrongly convicted schoolteacher.
US fashion designer Tom Ford was the runner-up, winning the Silver Lion - Grand Jury Prize as the director of "Nocturnal Animals," another tale of bitter revenge, starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal.
The Silver Lion for best director was awarded to two contrasting filmmakers: Russia's Andrei Konchalovsky was in the competition with "Rai" ("Paradise"), a Holocaust drama, whereas Mexico's Amat Escalante was honored for a provocative movie called "La Region Salvaje" ("The Untamed"), a tale involving sex with an extraterrestrial, tentacled creature hidden in a cabin.
Another shocking film obtained the special jury prize: the US horror movie "The Bad Batch," by Ana Lily Amirpour. Her shocking cannibal love story stars Jim Carrey and Keanu Reeves.
Best actors: Oscar Martinez and Emma Stone
The prize for best actor went to the Argentinian Oscar Martinez for his role in the comedy "El Ciudadano Ilustre" ("The Distinguished Citizen"), where he depicts a cynical Nobel-prize winning author who returns to his hometown for the first time after 40 years.
Emma Stone won the prize for best actress for her performance in the musical "La La Land," a colorful tribute to the golden age of US musicals set in present-day Los Angeles.
Germany's Paula Beer won the Marcello Mastroianni Award as the best emerging actress for her role in the World War I drama "Frantz," by French filmmaker Francois Ozon.
The Golden Lion for lifetime achievement was given to French cinema legend Jean-Paul Belmondo, during a ceremony held on Thursday.
In recent years, the world's oldest film festival has strengthened its reputation as a launch pad for Hollywood's awards season. The last two films to win the Academy Award for best picture, "Spotlight" (2015) and "Birdman" (2014), both premiered in Venice.
Highlights of the 73rd Venice Film Festival awards
The world's oldest film festival is now considered a launch pad for the Academy Awards, attracting many top stars and filmmakers. Here are some of the highlights of the glamorous competition which closed on Saturday.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Monteforte
Golden Lion goes to master of slow cinema
Winning the festival's top award, Philippine director Lav Diaz's almost four-hour film "Ang Babaeng Humayo" ("The Woman Who Left") is actually short compared to the one he presented at the Berlinale earlier this year: "Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis" ("A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery") is an eight-hour work.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Monteforte
Silver Lion for a fashion designer
The Silver Lion went to designer-turned-filmmaker Tom Ford and "Nocturnal Animals," a spooky, stirring romantic thriller exploring love, betrayal and revenge. The film stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Fabi
Best screenplay: 'Jackie'
Natalie Portman stars as Jacqueline Kennedy in the bio-drama "Jackie." The film, by Chilean director Pablo Larrain, depicts the week after the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in 1963. It was written by Noah Oppenheim., who took home the award for best screenplay.
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling star in a quirky tale of an actress trying to make it in Los Angeles and her boyfriend, a struggling jazz pianist. "La La Land," directed by Damien Chazelle, pays tribute to the Golden Age of American musicals. Stone won the award for best actress for her performance.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/A. Marechal
Best actor: Oscar Martinez
The Argentine comedic drama "El Ciudadano Ilustre" ("The Distinguished Citizen"), by Gaston Duprat and Mariano Cohn, is about fame, idols and small-town jealousy. It was among the critics' favorites. Oscar Martinez won the award for best actor for his role as a cynical Nobel Prize laureate back in his hometown after years. He was also in the cast of the 2001 German movie, "Berlin is in Germany."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Monteforte
A cannibal tale takes special jury prize
Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey co-star in the horror-thriller "Bad Batch," directed by Ana Lily Amirpour (pictured). In this dystopian cannibal love story set in a futuristic United States, a young girl wanders a desert wasteland and gets sliced up.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Monteforte
Kusturica's last competition
Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica has said his latest work, "Na Mlijecnom Putu" ("On the Milky Road"), will be his last entry in a film festival. He starred in it himself, along with Italian actress Monica Bellucci. His first feature film, "Sjećaš li se Doli Bel?" ("Do You Remember Dolly Bell?"), won Kusturica a Golden Lion in 1981 - but didn't win anything this year.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Monteforte
Wenders also leaves empty-handed
Germany's star director Wim Wenders was also part of the competition with "The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez," starring singer-songwriter Nick Cave. The film was shot in 3D, yet limited the action to a couple's intimate conversation in a garden. Despite the inventive shooting style, it failed to win an award.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Best emerging actress: Germany's Paula Beer
Starring in French filmmaker Francois Ozon's "Frantz," Paula Beer portrayed a young woman who meets a French soldier while mourning her fiance, who died during World War I. The German actress won the award for her quiet and nuanced portrayal, said the judges.
