The film "The Unknown Woman" by Danish director May el-Toukhy won the Golden Lion for best film at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, giving one of the festival's most important prizes to the film that tells the story of a woman whose past from the Nazi occupation threatens her new life in post-war Denmark. The awards were decided by an international jury chaired by the director and American actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. El-Toukhy, one of only two female directors competing for the top prize this year, thanked the jury and her collaborators, stressing that the film is also about women, whose voices are often silenced. "Unknown Woman" won another major award. Mathilde Arcel, whose first leading role was in the film, received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. The emotional actress said she was honored to receive the award in the company of directors and actors from around the world. The Silver Lion for Best Director went to Russian director Ilya Khrzhanovsky for "DAU," an ambitious project that was years in the making and drew much attention in Venice for its unusual production method. The Grand Jury Prize was won by South Korean director Lee Chang-dong for the social drama "Possible." Love". The film follows a working-class family and a documentary filmmaker who chooses them as the subject of her new film. "Possible Love" previously won the FIPRESCI International Film Critics Award for Best Film in Venice. The Special Jury Prize went to the documentary film "NAZA" by Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. The film features testimony from 24 former Israeli military personnel about the systems and procedures used in attacks on civilians in Gaza. The film received a 25-minute standing ovation after its premiere in Venice and caused strong reactions. The award for best actor was given to American actor John Malkovich for his role in the black comedy "Wild Horse Nine" by director Martin McDonagh. Malkovich plays a CIA veteran confronting his past in the film, and he accepted the award via a pre-recorded video message as he is currently on another set. The award for best screenplay went to Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo and Olivier Gorce for "A Good Little Soldier." In the parallel program Orizzonti, the award for best film went to the Belgian film "Diane in the Loop" by the duo of directors Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni. Riccardo Scamarcio was named best actor for "Children of the Monkey", while Laleh Marzban won the award for best actress for "Falling House". The award for the best director went to Jacqueline Lentzou for "A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra". This year's Venice Film Festival ended with a distribution of the main awards between European, Asian and American, with a particularly strong presence of films dealing with social and political themes. /tesheshi.com/

Source: prizrenpost