May El-Toukhy’s ‘Woman Unknown’ Wins Golden Lion For Best Film At Venice Film Festival – Full Winners List
Danish-Egyptian director May El-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown has won the Golden Lion for Best Film at the 83rd Venice Film Festival. The post-World War II psychological thriller was one of just two films directed by women in the running for the Golden Lion this year.
Set in Denmark in the summer of 1945, the picture stars Mathilde Arcel as nanny and housemaid Marie who is on the cusp of marrying her wealthy, older, widowed employer.
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There is dark side to the jubilation of the liberation as women who fraternized with German soldiers are tracked down and publicly shamed. Marie’s past threatens to catch up with her.
“The film tells the story of invisible women,” said El-Toukhy Saturday on receiving the prize. “Women who go unseen and unheard. My thanks go to my amazing cast for the passion you poured into portraying these characters.”
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Earlier in the evening, Arcel won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her performance in the film. In a tearful speech, she thanked El-Toukhy for pushing on with the challenging project.
This year’s jury was presided over by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who was joined on the panel by Tunisian The Voice of Hind Rajab director and screenwriter Kaouther Ben Hania, English composer and artist Daniel Blumberg, Italian professor Francesco Casetti, French director and screenwriter Xavier Giannoli, Afghan director and screenwriter Shahrbanoo Sadat, and Hong Kong director and producer Johnnie To.
In other main competition prizes, Lee Chang-Dong scooped the Grand Jury Prize for Possible Love, exploring the brutality of the modern labour system through two married couples: a laid-off worker and his wife, and a documentary filmmaker and her husband.
Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s bombshell Israeli documentary NAZA about the Israeli army’s targeting of civilians in Gaza, which drew a record-breaking 25-minute ovation at its premiere, won the Special Jury Prize, and Ilya Khrzhanovsky clinched Best Director for Dau.
Hotly tipped John Malkovich won the Volpi Cup Best Actor for his performance in Wild Horse Nine, which will further fuel Oscar hopes. The actor, who is currently on set, was unable to make it to the ceremony so sent a video message instead.
In the Orizzonti section, Best Film went to Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni’s Diana in the Loop about a young woman who decides to avenge the rape of her mother, which took place three years before she was born.
Other notable prizes in the sidebar included Best Actress for Laleh Marzban for her brave, hijab-less performance in Iranian drama Falling House as a young woman whose dreams of pursuing a modeling career outside of Iran are thwarted by a tyrannical prison guard father.
She dedicated the prize to all the women of Iran declaring in Farsi that the country was going through one of the most painful and difficult times of its history.
“I want to mention the people of my homeland, Iran, who are living under the greatest pressure ever. I would like to dedicate this award to the women of my country, who have paid the highest price for even the smallest form of freedom. Today more than ever, they continue to carry forward their dreams, their courage, and their hope,” she said.
Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio won Best Actor for his performance in The House of the Monkey as the devoted father of a disabled son who becomes increasingly close to his teenage nephew seeing in him the son he always wished for. The film also won Best Screenplay for director Tommaso Landucci and co-writer Damiano Femfert.
Scarmarcio dedicated his prize to all the fathers in the world as well as UK producer Jeremy Thomas, whose death at the age of 77 was announced earlier in the day.
The Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film went to Cameroonian-French director Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu’s House of the Wind exploring the impact of migration to Europe through the tale of an 80-year-old Josette who lives alone in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Tonight’s ceremony, hosted by Italian actors Greta Scarano and Nicolas Maupas, ends a politically charged 83rd edition in which other Competition titles included Florian Zeller’s Bunker starring Penélope Cruz; Werner Herzog’s Bucking Fastard, Ali Asgari’s A Bit of Light and buzzy Out of Competition films including Alex Gibney’s Musk, Russell Crowe’s What Love Builds and Luca Guadagnino’s seven-hour Bernardo Bertolucci tribute Joie de Vivre.
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Other memorable moments included Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion Awards for George Clooney and Ellen Burstyn.
Below is the full Venice Film Festival winners list.
VENEZIA 83 COMPETITION
Golden Lion
Woman Unknown
May El-Toukhy
Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize
Possible Love
Dir. Lee Chang-Dong
Silver Lion Best Director
Ilya Khrzhanovsky for Dau
Special Jury Prize
Naza
Dirs. Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
Best Screenplay
A Good Little Soldier
Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amédéo, Olivier Gorce
Best Actor
John Malkovich
Wild Horse Nine
Best Actress
Mathilde Arcel
Woman Unknown
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress
Malou Khebizi
A Place to Heal
Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film
House of the Wind
Dir. Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
VENICE SPOTLIGHT
Armani Beauty Audience Award
I Matter
Dir. Alina Şerban
HORIZONS
Best Film
Diane in the Loop
Dirs. Ann Sirot, Raphaël Balboni
Best Director
Jacqueline Lentzou
A day in the life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra
Special Jury Prize
House of the Wind
Dir. Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
Best Actor
Riccardo Scamarcio
The Children of the Monkey
Best Actress
Laleh Marzban
Falling House
Best Screenplay
The Children of the Monkey
Cowriters. Tommaso Landucci, Damiano Femfert
Best Short Film
Quelques instants de bonheur
Dir. Shaden Safieddine Tazi
VENICE CLASSICS
Best Restored Film
Long Night In ’43
Dir. Florestano Vancini
VENICE IMMERSIVE
Grand Prize
The Pigeon Ring
Dirs: Yuqi Zhang, Shixin Tao
Special Jury Prize
Out of the Ashes
Dirs: Rory Mitchell and Nonny de la Peña
Achievement Prize
Empire at Sea
Dir: Peter Flaherty