‘The Shape of Water’ Wins Golden Lion for Best Film at Venice Film Festival

The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro’s 1960s woman meets fish fantasy has captured the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, the Golden Lion for Best Film. The jury, led by Academy Award nominee Annette Bening, awarded Best Actress to Charlotte Rampling (Hannah) and Best Actor to Kamel El Basha (The Insult, Lebanon’s Foreign Language Film Oscar submission). The Grand Jury Prize went to Foxtrot, the likely contender for Israel at the Oscars.

With this win, The Shape of Water is shaping up to become the Oscar frontrunner. Coming out of Venice a winner and Telluride as one of the biggest hits there, Fox Searchlight could be well on its way to securing yet another Best Picture win. The studio will release the film in the US on December 8th.

AwardsWatch correspondent Mina Takla was correct with his predictions for Charlie Plummer for Young Performer/Newcomer and Charlotte Rampling for Best Actress.

Here is the full list of winners of the 74th Venice Film Festival:

IN COMPETITION

Golden Lion: “The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro

Grand Jury Prize: “Foxtrot,” Samuel Maoz

Silver Lion for Best Director: Xavier Legrand, “Custody”

Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Charlotte Rampling, “Hannah”

Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Kamel El Basha, “The Insult”

Best Screenplay: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh

Special Jury Prize: “Sweet Country,” Warwick Thornton

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Young Performer: Charlie Plummer, “Lean on Pete”

HORIZONS (ORIZZONTI)

Best Film: “Nico, 1988,” Susanna Nicchiarelli

Best Director: Vahid Jalilvand, “No Date, No Signature”

Special Jury Prize: “Caniba,” Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor

Best Actress: Lyna Khoudri, “Les bienheureux”

Best Actor: Navid Mohammadzadeh, “No Date, No Signature”

Best Screenplay: “Oblivion Verses,” Dominique Wellinski and Rene Ballesteros

Best Short Film: “Gros chagrin,” Céline Devaux

LION OF THE FUTURE

Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Film: “Custody,” Xavier Legrand

VENICE CLASSICS

Best Documentary on Cinema: “The Prince and the Dybbuk,” Elvira Niewiera and Piotr Rosolowski

Best Restored Film: “Come and See”

VIRTUAL REALITY COMPETITION

Best Virtual Reality: “Arden’s Wake (Expanded),” Eugene Y.K. Chung

Best Virtual Reality Experience: “La Camera Isabbiata,” Laurie Anderson and Hsin-chien Huang

Best Virtual Reality Story: “Bloodless,” Gina Kim

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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