The Venice Film Festival, which closed on Saturday, awarded the coveted Leone d'Oro for Best Film to director Sofia Coppola for “Somewhere”.
In this film, a famous, hard-living actor is forced to re-evaluate his life when his 11-year-old daughter visits him. Sofia Coppola, as an Italian American, is regarded by Italians as one of their own and was joyously applauded.
The Coppa Volpi for Best Actor went to Vincent Gallo for his role in “Essential Killing”, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, whilst the Best Actress award went to Ariane Labed for “Attenberg”.
The Leone d'Argento for Best Director was awarded to Alex de la Iglesia for “Balada Triste De Trompeta”.
The Controcampo Award for trends in Italian film went to Aureliano Amadei for his film, “20 Sigarette”, the story of an out of work anarchist who goes to Iraq as assistant director on a film about the Italian Peace Mission there. Caught up in a military world which he neither respects nor understands, Aureliano is the only survivor of an attack. Suddenly, he is hailed as a hero and at last, he “grows up”. The jury awarded a special prize to the actor Vinicio Marchioni for his role as Aureliano in this film.
The Premio L'Oréal for Cinema was won by the Italian actress Vittoria Puccini, who said she was very moved by the honour.
The UNICEF prize was awarded to the film “Miral” , directed by Julian Schnabel. This film, about a Palestinian orphan, has already caused political controversy.
All in all, then, some disappointing results for Italian cinema but there are some worthy winners. President Napolitano received a standing ovation when he attended the Festival.
In the following video:
Trailer of "Somewhere" by Sofia Coppola
