80.Venice Film Festival. The winners of the 2023 edition

The 80th Venice International Film Festival, part of La Biennale di Venezia, has just concluded with the announcement of the winners. Some were eagerly anticipated and praised by both the audience and critics from their very first screening, while others came as surprises. This year, the festival saw a reduced presence of Hollywood’s big names and stars on the Lido due to the strikes by the American unions, the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA.

The winners of the official selection at Venice80

Not easy decisions for the Venice80 jury presided over by Damien Chazelle, who, along with Saleh Bakri, Jane Campion, Mia Hansen-Løve, Gabriele Mainetti, Martin McDonagh, Santiago Mitre, Laura Poitras, and Shu Qi, awarded:

• Golden Lion for Best Film went to “Poor Things” by Yorgos Lanthimos
• Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize was awarded to “Evil Does Not Exist” by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
• Volpi Cup for Best Actress was presented to Cailee Spaeny, the lead actress in “Priscilla” directed by Sofia Coppola
• Volpi Cup for Best Actor went to Peter Sarsgaard, for his role in “Memory” directed by Michel Franco
• Special Jury Prize was given to “The Green Border” by Agnieszka Holland
• Best Screenplay Award was presented to Guillermo Calderón and Pablo Larrain for the film “El Conde,” directed by Pablo Larrain
• Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress was granted to Seydou Sarr, the lead actor in “Io, Capitano” by Matteo Garrone

The winners from the Orizzonti section

The Orizzonti jury, chaired by Jonas Carpignano and including Kaouther Ben Hania, Kahlil Joseph, Jean-Paul Salomé, and Tricia Tuttle, awarded the following prizes (without the possibility of a tie):

• Orizzonti Award for Best Film went to “Explanation for Everything” by Gabor Reisz
• Orizzonti Award for Best Director was presented to “Paradise is Burning” by Mika Gustafson
• Special Jury Prize Orizzonti was given to “Una sterminata domenica” by Alain Parroni
• Orizzonti Award for Best Actress was awarded to Margherita Rosa De Francisco, for her role in “El Paraiso” directed by Enrico Maria Artale
• Orizzonti Award for Best Actor went to Tergel Bold-Erdene, for his role in “Ser Ser Salhi (Città del Vento)” directed by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir
• Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay was presented to “El Paraiso” by Enrico Maria Artale
• Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film was given to “A Short Trip” by Erenik Bequiri

The winner of the Venice Opera Prima “Luigi De Laurentiis” Award

The Venice Opera Prima “Luigi De Laurentiis” jury, chaired by Alice Diop and including Faouzi Bensaïdi, Laura Citarella, Andrea De Sica, and Chloe Domont, awarded (without the possibility of a tie) the following prize among all the debut feature films presented in the various competitive sections of the Venice Film Festival (Official Selection and Autonomous and Parallel Sections):

• Leone del Futuro – Venice Opera Prima “Luigi De Laurentiis Award to “Love Is a Gun” by Lee Hong-Chi, that was presented in Competition as part of the Critics’ Week selection.

The film receives the prize of $100,000, provided by Filmauro, which will be evenly split between the director and the producer.