Venice 2023: Complete List of Winners including the "Queer Lion"
Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 10:38PM by Nathaniel R
Evil Does Not Exist, Green Border, and Poor Things all scored big at Venice.
In the event that Elisa is taking a well earned 24 hour nap before any last words we thought we'd share the complete list of winners from the 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival culled from various sources including Wikipedia, Variety, and Venice's Official Site. As soon as TIFF wraps we'll update all the Oscar charts. Obviously Poor Things (the big winner) is moving up though it's worth noting that we had been banking on in before the screenings began. The Best International Feature Film Oscar race also is greatly affected by the big festivals so more on that soon, too...
MAIN COMPETITION
Jury: Director Damien Chazelle (Chair), Actor Saleh Bakri, Director Jane Campion, Director Mia Hansen-Løve, Director Gabriele Mainetti, Director Martin McDonagh, Director Santiago Mitre, Documentarian Laura Poitras, and Actress Shu Qi. They watched 23 features, 7 of which took a prize. The only film to win two prizes from the competition jury was Italy's Io Capitano (Me, Captain) by Matteo Garrone (of Gomorrah fame)
Golden Lion (Best Film): "Poor Things," Yorgos Lanthimos
Grand Jury Prize (Runner-Up): “Evil Does Not Exist,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Silver Lion (Best Director): “Me Captain,” Matteo Garrone
Special Jury Prize (Honorable Mention): “Green Border,” Agnieszka Holland
Best Screenplay: “El Conde,” Guillermo Calderón, Pablo Larraín
Volpi Cup (Best Actress): “Priscilla,” Cailee Spaeny
Volpi Cup (Best Actor): “Memory,” Peter Sarsgaard
Marcello Mastroianni Award (Best Young Actor): “Me Captain,” Seydou Sarr
In the long list of 'extra' awards below, you'll notice that Green Border (Poland), Me Captain (Italy) and Evil Does Not Exist (Japan) did especially well which were all runners up in their ways to Poor Things did very well.
HORIZONS
Jury: Jonas Carpignano (Chair), Kaouther Ben Hania, Kahlil Joseph, Jean-Paul Salomé, and Tricia Truttle. They watched 18 features and 13 short films.
Best Film: "Explanation for Everything,” Gabor Reisz
Best Director: “Paradise is Burning,” Mika Gustafson
Special Jury Prize: “An Endless Sunday,” Alain Parroni
Best Actress: “El Paraiso,” Margarita Rosa De Francisco
Best Actor: “City of Wind” Tergel Bold-Erdene
Best Screenplay: “El Paraiso,” Enrico Maria Artale
Best Short Film: “A Short Trip,” Erenik Beqiri
another Horizon Award not from that jury
Armani Beauty Audience Award: "Felicita," Micaela Ramazzotti
Explanation for Everything was also a big winner in Venice Days. It's about a high school student in Budapest, struggling with unrequited love and a scandal-ridden graduation exam.
LION OF THE FUTURE
Jury: Alice Diop (Chair), Faouzi Bensaïdi, Laura Citarella, Andrea de Sica, and Chloe Domont.
Luigi de Laurentiis Award (Debut Feature): "Love is a Gun" Lee Hong-Chi
VENICE CLASSICS
Jury: Andrea Pallaoro (Chair), and 24 students of Cinema chosen by the Italian University Cinema professors.
Best Cinema Documentary: "Thank You Very Much," Alex Braverman
Best Restored Film: "Moving," Shinji Somai
VENICE IMMERSIVE
Jury: Singing Chen (Chair), Pedro Harres, and German Heller. They watched 28 projects.
Grand Jury Prize: "Song for a Passerby," Celine Daemen
Special Jury Prize: "Flow," Adriaan Lokman
Achievement Prize: "Emperor," Marion Burger and Ilan Cohen
Then there are the less central prizes, from many attending groups and organizations. Most of which were announced before closing night.
VENICE DAYS
Best Film: “Explanation for Everything,” Gabor Reisz
Best Director: “Paradise is Burning,” Mika Gustafson
Special Jury Prize: “An Endless Sunday,” Alain Parroni
Best Actress: “El Paraiso,” Margarita Rosa De Francisco
Best Actor: “City of Wind,” Tergel Bold-Erdene
Best Screenplay: “El Paraiso,” Enrico Maria Artale
Best Short Film: “A Short Trip,” Erenik Beqiri
CRITICS’ WEEK
Grand Prize: “Malqueridas,” Tana Gilbert
Special Mention: Saura Lightfoot Leon in “Hoard” and Ariane Labed in “The Vourdalak,” for their performances
Audience Award: “Hoard,” Luna Carmoon
Verona Film Club Award for Most Innovative Film: “Hoard,” Luna Carmoon
Mario Serandrei – Hotel Saturnia Award for Best Technical Contribution: “Malqueridas,” Tana Gilbert
Best Short Film: “The Lost Memories of Trees,” Antonio Le Camera
Best Director (Short Film): “Ender’s Line,” Gabriele Biasi
Best Technical Contribution (Short Film): “We Should All Be Futurists,” Angela Norelli (editor)
OTHER KEY AWARDS
FIPRESCI
Jury: Daniel Kothenschulte (Germany), Kevin Maher (UK), Paolo Casella (Italy), Adriana Fernandez (Mexico), Ramy Abdelrazek Hassan (Egypt), and Anna Maria Pasetti (Italy).
FIPRESCI Award: “Evil Does Not Exist,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi
FIPRESCI Award for Best Film from Orizzonti and Parallel Sections: “An Endless Sunday,” Alain Parroni
QUEER LION
Jury: I haven't been able to locate the jury names yet (strange). Even the official Queer Lion site doesn't display them that I can see. Because the Queer Lion is pulled from multiple programs and we don't always know which films have LGBTQ+ content before the festival, it's nice to learn which films were deemed eligible, so I've include a list of those.
Goran Stolevski's "Housekeeping for Beginners"
Queer Lion: “Housekeeping for Beginners,” Goran Stolevski
If that name sounds familiar to you it's because the Australian-Macedonian director Goran Stolevski has been extra prolific following up his haunting debut film You Won't Be Alone (2022, now streaming on Peacock) with the excellent gay romance Of an Age (now streaming on Prime) and now this title. His first three features in the span of three years time? Wow. This new one is about a family of women and a gay couple living with them.
There were 16 eligible films. The others were: Dogman (Competition), Maestro (Competition), Woman of (Competition), Paradise is Burning (Horizons), Sem Coração (Horizons), Yurt (Horizons), Pet Shop Days (Horizons Extra), Bill Douglas is my Friend (Venice Classics), Árni (Biennale College Cinema), The Summer with Carmen (Giornate degli Autori), Frammenti di un percorso amoros (Giornate degli Autori), Le mie poesie non cambieranno il mondo (Giornate degli Autori), About Last Year (Venice International Film Critics Week), Life is Not a Competition, But I'm Winning (Venice International Film Critics Week), and Malqueriades (Venice International Film Critics Week).
In addition to the eligible 16, there were other features in Venice that weren't considered eligible because LGBTQ characters or themes were secondary or marginal or they were short films or restored films. FEATURES: The Beast (Competition), Adagio (Competition), Semidel (Giornate degli Autori); SHORTS: Area Boy (Horizons), This is How a Child Becomes a Poet (Giornate degli Autori), De l'amour perdu (Critics Week), Finalmente Eu (Venice Immersive), Queer Utopia: Act 1 Cruising (Venice Immersive / Biennale College Cinema), Body of Mine (Venice Immersive); RESTORED FILMS: Bugis Street (Venice Classics),
ARCA CinemaGiovani Awards
Best Film in Venice: “Green Border,” Agnieszka Holland
Best Italian Film in Venice: “El Praiso,” Enrico Maria Artale
AUTHORS UNDER 40 AWARDS
Best Directing and Screenwriting: Luna Carmoon, “Hoard”
Best Screenwriting: Mika Gustafson, “Paradise is Burning”
Special Mention: “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person,” Ariane Louis-Seize, Christine Doyon
Special Mention for Editing: “Malqueridas,” Javira Velozo, Tana Gilbert
AND STILL MORE PRIZES
Brian Award: “Tatami,” Guy Nattiv, Zar Amir Ebrahimi
Pietro Bianchi Award: Sergio Castellitto
XXXV CICT – UNESCO
Enrico Fulchignoni Award: “Me Captain,” Matteo Garrone
Cinema & Arts Awards
Best Films: “Backstage,” Afef Ben Mahmoud, Khalil Benkirane; “Making Of,” Cédric Kahn
Special Mention dedicated to a multidisciplinary artist: Chong Keat Aun, “Snow in Midsummer”
Premio CinemaSarà: “Green Border,” Agnieszka Holland
Special Mention: “Evil Does Not Exist,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Civitas Award: “Me Captain,” Matteo Garrone
Edipo Re Award: “Me Captain,” Matteo Garrone
Ca’ Foscari Young Jury Award: “Evil Does Not Exist,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Premio Fondazione Fai Persona Lavoro Ambiente: “Evil Does Not Exist,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Special Mention for treatment of issues related to environment): “Housekeeping for Beginners,” Goran Stolevski
Special Mention for treatment of issues related to work): “Making Of,” Cédric Kahn; “The Red Suitcase,” Fidel Devkota
Fanheart3 Awards
Graffetta d’Oro for Best Film: “Dogman,” Luc Besson
Nave d’Argento for Best OTP: to the characters Sasha and Paul in “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person,” Ariane Louis-Seize
XR Fan Experience: “Gargoyle Doyle,” Ethan Shaftel
XR Special Mention: “Pixel Ripped 1978,” Ana Ribeiro
Federazione Italiana dei Cineclub Awards
Best Film: “Me Captain,” Matteo Garrone
Special Mention: “Anna,” Marco Amenta
Special Mention Best Short Film: “We Should All Be Futurists,” Angela Norelli
Jury Special Prize: “Passione Critica,” Simone Isola, Franco Montini, Patrizia Pistagnesi
Francesco Pasinetti Award: “Me Captain,” Matteo Garrone
Green Drop Award: “Green Border,” Agnieszka Holland; “Me Captain,” Matteo Garrone
Special Mention: “Materia Viva,” Stefania Vialetto, Marco Falorni, Andrea Frassoni
ImpACT Award: “Me Captain,” Matteo Garrone
Lanterna Magica Award: “Me Captain,” Matteo Garrone
UNICEF Leoncino d’Oro Award: “Me Captain,” Matteo Garrone
Cinema for UNICEF: “Green Border,” Agnieszka Holland
Lizzani Award: “Invelle,” Simone Massi
Nuovoimaie Talent Awards
Best New Young Actor: Gianmarco Franchini, “Adagio”
Best New Young Actress: Sara Ciocca, “Nina dei Lupi”
La Pellicola d’Oro Awards
Best Production Director: Claudia Cravotta, “Me Captain”
Best Camera Operator: Massimiliano Kuveiller, “Finally Dawn”
Best Set Designer: Simona Balducci, “Comandate”
Robert Bresson Award: Mario Martone
SIGNIS Award: “Me Captain,” Matteo Garrone
Special Mention: “The Promised Land,” Nikolaj Arcel
Sorriso Diverso Venezia Awards
Best Italian Film: “The Penitent – A Rational Man,” Luca Barbareschi
Best Foreign Film: “Green Border,” Agnieszka Holland
Premio Soundtrack Stars Award
Best Soundtrack: “Me Captain,” Andrea Farri
Special Mention: “The Killer ,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Special Prize: “Adagio,” Subsonica
Special Prize: Levante for the song “Leggera” in “Romantiche”
Mediterranean University Union Awards
Best Film: “Poor Things,” Yorgos Lanthimos
Prize for Cultural Diversity: “Green Border,” Agnieszka Holland
Reader Comments (5)
Wow. Now that Cailee Spaeny won Best Actress at a major film festival, suddenly I'm interested in her performance in Priscilla.
And I guess that's just the kind of actressexual I am. 🤷🏻♂️
@Philip H.-I'm actressexual as well. There's no shame in that. You gotta hand it to Sofia for creating great roles for actresses as she is my all-time favorite filmmaker as I ever have kids and daughters. I'm naming one of them after Sofia and the other in Charlotte after the character in Lost in Translation as well as Charlotte Rampling.
goran stolevski's three features in three years is even more impressive when you consider they span two countries and several languages
IMO (and admittedly imo only):
I can think of few things more hellish than having to spend 2 hours watching that boring Emma Stone flounce around, pretending to discover sex.
Fun bit of trivia: Since 2000, Rose Byrne is the only actress who won the Volpi Cup for an English-language performance and DIDN'T go on to receive an Oscar nomination.
Rose Byrne, The Goddess of 1967
Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven
Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
Emma Stone, La La Land
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Cate Blanchett, Tár
Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla
We'll see if the trend continues for Spaeny!