Sep 7 2008
Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler won the Golden Lion at the 65th Venice Film Festival last night. Marking the comeback of actor Mickey Rourke, the film received rave reviews and will next been seen at the Toronto and New York film festivals. The Wrestler does not currently have distribution.The jury, chaired by Wim Wenders and including Juriy Arabov, Valeria Golino, Douglas Gordon, Lucrecia Martel, John Landis, and Johnnie To, made their decisions after screening twenty-one films in this year's competition.
Official Venezia 65 Awards
GOLDEN LION for Best Film:The Wrestler by Darren Aronofsky (USA)
SILVER LION for Best Director to:
Aleksey German Jr. for Bumaznyj Soldat (Russia)
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to:
Teza by Haile Gerima (Ethiopia, Germany, France)
COPPA VOLPI for Best Actor:
Silvio Orlando for Il papa di Giovanna by Pupi Avati (Italy)
COPPA VOLPI for Best Actress:
Dominique Blanc for L'autre by Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic (France)
MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD for Best Young Actor or Actress:
Jennifer Lawrence for The Burning Plain by Guillermo Arriaga (USA)
OSELLA for Best Cinematography to:
Alisher Khamidhodjaev and Maxim Drozdov for Bumaznyj Soldat by Aleksey German Jr. (Russia)
OSELLA for Best Screenplay to:
Haile Gerima for Teza (Ethiopia, Germany, France)
SPECIAL LION for Overall Work to:
Werner Schroeter - The Jury decided to award a Special Lion for his uncompromising and relentlessly innovative work over a period of 40 years to Werner Schroeter.
"LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS" AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM to:
Pranzo Di Ferragosto by Gianni Di Gregorio (SIC - International Critics' Week, Italy)
