Venice 2022, Golden Lion to Laura Poitras, Silver Lion to Guadagnino

‘All the beauty and the bloodshed’ by Laura Poitras (United States), the only documentary in competition, wins the Leone d’Oro at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. The Jury chaired by Julianne Moore and composed of Mariano Cohn, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Audrey Diwan, Leila Hatami, Kazuo Ishiguro and Rodrigo Sorogoyen, awarded the new work of the Oscar-winning director for the documentary ‘Citizenfour’ in 2015 with the main prize, which tells the battle of the famous artist and activist Nan Goldin to gain recognition of responsibility of the Sackler family for oxycodone overdose deaths. The Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize of the Venice Film Festival 2022 went to ‘Saint Omer’ by Alice Diop (France), a touching story of the trial for an infanticide committed by a desperate migrant. The film, the only first work in the main competition of the Festival, was also awarded the Lion of the Future – Venice First Opera Award “Luigi De Laurentiis”, assigned by the jury chaired by Michelangelo Frammartino. Italy celebrates with the Silver Lion for best direction awarded to Luca Guadagnino for the film ‘Bones and all’ (United States / Italy). The film by the Italian director also earned the Marcello Mastroianni Award, dedicated to an emerging young actor, to Taylor Russell, co-star alongside star Timothée Chalamet, in the road trip of two young cannibal lovers. female is conquered by Cate Blanchett, protagonist in the role of a harassing conductor of the film ‘Tar’ by Todd Fields (United States). The men’s Volpi Cup was won by Colin Farrell, for the film ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ by Martin McDonagh (Ireland), a story of friendships and breakups with shocking implications, set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland. The film also won the Best Screenplay Award, written by the director himself. Favorite of the eve in the responses of the critics, he received a Special Jury Award ‘Khers Nist’ (‘The bears do not exist’, soon in Italy with Academy Two) by the Iranian director Jafar Panahi (Iran), currently in prison, accused of propaganda against the regime. The award was greeted by a standing ovation in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema del Lido. A dry mouth, both Netflix and Rai Cinema in the competition’s palmares. For the Horizons section, the jury chaired by Isabelle Coixet and composed of Laura Bispuri, Antonio Campos, Sofia Djama and Edouard Waintrop, awarded the Iranian ‘Jang-e Jahani Sevom’ (World War III) by Houman Seyedi ( Iran), whose protagonist Mohsen Tanabandeh also won the Horizons Award for Best Actor. The Orizzonti Award for Best Director went to ‘Vera’ by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, an Austrian film about Vera Gemma, daughter of the great Giuliano, who also won the Orizzonti Award for Best Actress. The Orizzonti Special Jury Prize was awarded to ‘Chleb I Sol (Bread and Salt)’ by Damian Kocur (Poland) The Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay went to Chilean Fernando Guzzoni for the film ‘Blanquita’, directed by Guzzoni himself (Chile). The Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film went to ‘Snow in September’ by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France), which also won the Venice Short Film Nomination for the European Film Awards (Efa) 2022. The Spectators’ Award – Armani Finally, Beuty for the Horizons Extra section went to ‘Nezouh’ by French director of Syrian origins Soudade Kaadan.