It is the day of the verdicts for the 78th edition of the Venice International Film Festival. Tonight, the Jury composed of Bong Joon-ho (President), Chloé Zhao, Saverio Costanzo, Virginie Efira, Cynthia Erivo, Sarah Gadon and Alexander Nanau, will award the following official prizes to the feature films in Competition at Venice 78: Golden Lion, Grand Jury Prize, Silver Lion – Best Director Award, Volpi Cup for Best Female Performance, Volpi Cup for Best Male Performance, Special Jury Prize, Best Screenplay Award, Marcello Mastroianni Award to an emerging young actor or actress.
The award ceremony for the titles in Competition will be preceded by the prizes of Orizzonti section, dedicated to films representing new aesthetic and expressive trends. The jury, composed of Jasmila Žbanić (President), Mona Fastvold, Shahram Mokri, Josh Siegel and Nadia Terranova will award the following prizes, with no possibility of ex-aequo: Orizzonti Award for Feature Films, Orizzonti Award for Best Director, Special Orizzonti Jury Prize, Orizzonti Award for Best Female Performance, Orizzonti Award for Best Male Performance, Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay, Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film.
Uberto Pasolini, Martin Schweighofer and Amalia Ulman, will award the Leone del Futuro – Premio Venezia Opera Prima “Luigi De Laurentiis”, the Lion of the Future – Premio Venezia Opera Prima “Luigi De Laurentiis”, and a prize of USD 100,000, provided by Filmauro, which will be divided equally between the director and the producer, with no possibility of ex aequo.
Critics’ rankings
There is great uncertainty as to who will win the coveted prizes. The only compass at our disposal are the votes assigned by the critics of the major Italian and international newspapers, who have drawn up two rankings: at the top of both is Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God (together The King of Laughter in the Italian ranking).
