Venice Film Festival Winners: ‘ROMA,’ Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe – The Full List
Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA has won the Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival, the second year in a row the top prize has gone to a film from a Mexican director. Last year’s winner, The Shape of Water, was directed by Guillermo del Toro who went on to win Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars. del Toro was also the president of the jury of this year’s festival.
Yorgos Lanthimos took home the Grand Jury Prize for The Favourite. Every Lanthimos film has played a major film festival and won a top prize in the process, just not the top prize.
Olivia Colman won Best Actress for her role as Queen Anne in The Favourite, which will surely muddy the waters of awards category placement for her and co-stars Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz.
Willem Dafoe won Best Actor for playing Vincent van Gogh in Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate. This marked Dafoe’s first-ever win from a major film festival.
The Coen Brothers took home the screenplay prize for their TV series turned film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
Jennifer Kent, the only female director in competition, won a Special Jury Prize for The Nightingale.
The full list of winners of the 75th Venice Film Festival:
IN COMPETITION
Golden Lion: “Roma,” Alfonso Cuaron, U.S. Mexico
Grand Jury Prize: “The Favourite,” Yorgos Lanthimos, Greece, U.K.
Silver Lion for Best Director: Jacques Audiard, “The Sisters Brothers,” U.S.
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Olivia Colman, “The Favourite,” Greece, U.K.
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate,” U.S.
Best Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” U.S.
Special Jury Prize: “The Nightingale” Jennifer Kent, Australia
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Young Performer: Baykali Ganambarr “The Nightingale,” Australia
HORIZONS (ORIZZONTI)
Best Film: “Manta Ray,” Phuttiphong Aroonpheng, Thailand
Best Director: Emir Baigazin, Emir Baigazin, Kazakhstan
Special Jury Prize: “The Announcement,” Mahmut Fazil Coskun, Turkey
Best Actress: Natalia Kudryashova “A Man Who Surprised Everyone,” Russia
Best Actor: Kais Nashif “Tel Aviv on Fire,” Israel
Best Screenplay: “Jinpa,” Pema Tseden, China
Best Short Film: “Kado,” Aditya Ahmad, Indonesia
LION OF THE FUTURE: “The Day I Lost My Shadow,” Soudade Kaadan, Syria
Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Film:
VENICE CLASSICS
Best Documentary on Cinema: “The Great Buster: A Celebration,” Peter Bogdanovich
Best Restored Film: “The Night of the Shooting Stars,” Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
VIRTUAL REALITY COMPETITION
Best Virtual Reality: “Spheres,” Eliza McNitt
Best Virtual Reality Experience: “Buddy VR,” Chuck Chae
Best Virtual Reality Story: “Isle of the Dead,” Benjamin Nuel
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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