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VENICE 2013 Awards

Sacro GRA winner of the Golden Lion, Eastern Boys Orizzonti Award for Best Film

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- A mostly European winners' list for the Mostra, which marks its 70th edition with the first Golden Lion for a documentary in its history

Sacro GRA winner of the Golden Lion, Eastern Boys Orizzonti Award for Best Film

The 70th edition of the Venice Mostra ended this Saturday with a winners' list open to everyone's guesses, with no favourite emerging clearly throughout the competition.

The official jury chaired by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci marked the festival's history by awarding the Golden Lion for the very first time to a documentary film : the Italian-French movie Sacro GRA by Gianfranco Rosi, widely applauded by the press. The award confirms the shrewd intuition of Alberto Barbera, who this year introduced the documentary genre into the Mostra's official competition. It's also worth noting that an Italian film hadn't won the Golden Lion since 1998. International sales of Sacro GRA are being handled by the French company Doc and Films International.

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More controversial, Alexander Avranas of Greece carried off the Silver Lion for Best Director with Miss Violence. The film swept up another award thanks to its leading actor, Thémis Papou, winner of the Volpi Cup for Best Actor.

German director Philip Gröning collected the Special Jury Prize for his movie The Police Officer's Wife.

The Osella Award for the Best Screenplay went to the Brits Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope for Philomena directed by Stephen Frears. The winners were unfortunately unable to collect their prize on stage as they were in Toronto, held back "for business purposes" (sic). A rather misplaced comment, left for free interpretation on the part of the organizers of the young Venice Film Market.

Collaboration between Italy and France was honoured twice with the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, awarded to Elena Cotta for her role in  Emma Dante's A Street in Palermo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emma Dante
film profile
]
.

On the occasion of its 70th anniversary, the festival was enriched with a series of new prizes, including one for the official competition : the Special Jury Prize, awarded to Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-Liang for his film Stray Dogs. Two more prizes were added to the Orizzonti competition : the Prize for Best Director, which went to Uberto Pasolini, director of the Italian-British coproduction Still Life, and the Special Award for Innovative Content, won by Iranian director Shahram Mokri for the film Fish & Cats

The Orizzonti Jury presided by American director Paul Shrader awarded its Prize for the Best Film to Eastern Boys by French director Robin Campillo, one of Cineuropa's favourites at the Mostra.

The Orizzonti Special Jury Prize went to the duo of Australian directors Michael Cody and Amiel Courtin-Wilson for their film Ruin.

A first European film presented in the Critics' Week won the Lion of the Future : White Shadows by Noaz Deshe, a coproduction between Italy, Germany and Tanzania.

American cinema will have to content itself with a single prize for the young Tye Sheridan, the protagonist in Joe directed by David Gordon Greene, who won the Marcello Mastroianni Prize for a young emerging actor. 


Winners' List

Golden Lion for Best Film
Sacro GRA [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gianfranco Rosi
film profile
]
 - Gianfranco Rosi

Grand Jury Prize
Stray Dogs [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 - Tsai Ming Liang

Silver Lion for Best Director
Alexandros Avranas - Miss Violence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alexandros Avranas
film profile
]

Special Jury Prize
The Police Officer's Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philip Gröning
film profile
]
 - Philip Gröning

Volpi Cup for Best Actor
Themis Panou - Miss Violence

Volpi Cup for Best Actress
Elena Cotta - A Street in Palermo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emma Dante
film profile
]
 

Marcello Mastroianni Prize
Tye Sheridan - Joe

Osella Award for Best Screenplay
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope - Philomena [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stephen Frears
film profile
]

Lion of the Future - Laurentiis Prize for a First Film
White Shadow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Noaz Deshe
film profile
]
- Noaz Deshe

Orizzonti

Best Film
Eastern Boys [+see also:
trailer
interview: Robin Campillo
film profile
]
 - Robin Campilo

Best Director
Still Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Uberto Pasolini
film profile
]
 - Uberto Pasolini

Special Jury Prize
Ruin - Michael Cody, Amiel Courtin-Wilson 

Special Prize for Innovative Content
Fish and Cats - Shahram Mokri

Best Short Film
Kush - Shubhashish Bhutiani

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(Translated from French)

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