Meanwhile in Venice...

While I struggle to keep up at TIFF (good lord what a learning curve) the Venice Film Festival wrapped up and announced its awards. We didn't share them in a timely fashion. My apologies. The winners were...

Stray Dogs

Golden Lion: Sacro GRA (Gianfranco Rosi)
This surprise winner is a documentary about a famous highway in Rome. Sometimes non-sexy subject matter translates into great films.
Grand Jury Prize: Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang)
From the sounds of twitter this was the sensation of the festival though it doesn't screen at TIFF until after I leave town. *snifffle*
Silver Lion (Best Director): Alexandros Avranas, Miss Violence
Best Actor: Themis Panou, Miss Violence
I have a terrible habit of skipping films which then become winners at festivals. This is also playing Toronto but descriptions make it sound like a Greek version of The Virgin Suicides and I didn't bite. In hindsight and with awards under its belt a Greek version of The Virgin Suicides sounds tempting.
Best Actress: Elena Cotta, A Street in Palermo
Luckiest Gown: "Versayce" on Scarlett Johansson
okay that's not a real award but it should be. because dayum...

Marcello Mastroianni Award (Best Young Actor): Tye Sheridan, in Joe
Between this and his wonderful work in Mud, quite an arrival, huh
Best Screenplay: Philomena (Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope)
Dench was rumored to be the frontrunner for Best Actress but the jury thought otherwise... which might be telling since they obviously liked the film.
Special Jury Prize: The Police Officer's Wife (Phillip Groning)
Luigi de Laurentiis Award (Best Debut Feature): White Shadow (Noaz Deshe)
This one is a Tanzanian film (!) about an albino on the run from witch doctors.  

Theres another set of awards called "Horizon" and they chose...

Eastern Boys

Best Film: Eastern Boys (Robin Campillo)
A film about Eastern European young male immigrant hustlers in Paris's Gare du Nord station. 
Best Director: Still Life (Uberto Pasolini)
Special Jury Prize: Ruin (Michael Cody)
Award for Innovative Content: Fish and Cat (Shahram Mokri)
Best Short Film: Kush

Have you ever been to Venice or Toronto? Are they way up on your dream festival list or are you all about Cannes?

Comments

[eurocheese]

Wish I could! Oh well. BTW Xavier Dolan's Tom a la Ferme won the FIPRESCI prize, which made me very happy for him.

[TB]

If I were going to break down the hierarchy of festivals, I'd say that Cannes is the clear winner. Then Toronto, because it's fun sometimes to be at the center of all the hype. Then Venice, because hello: Venice. Then New York, which I am so so so excited to finally be attending for the first time this year. Then Sundance, and then getting hit by a bus and/or a bout of the bubonic plague, then Telluride. A perfect trifecta of hype, self-importance, and prohibitive expense all meet in a hellish Bermuda triangle to form the Telluride bubble. Seems like one of the worst places in the world to watch a movie for the first time.

[James T]

Nathaniel - You said the EXACT SAME THING about Dogtooth that you said about Miss Violence! And, indeed, people see similarities between Dogtooth and Miss Violence. I can't recall you saying you eventually watched Dogtooth. Did you?

[Carlos]

dayum, indeed!

[Guy Lodge]

Ha, "a Greek version of The Virgin Suicides" sounds tempting to me, but that is SO not what Miss Violence is.