Clearly it was a man’s world last night in Venice, as the winners of the Film Festival were announced. Including a very masculine take on being a woman, which snatched the coveted Golden Lion.

When all was said and done, right before the red carpet was rolled up and tucked away for next year’s edition of the festival, there were awards handed out that fulfilled a promise. But also some which I didn’t personally agree with and other award-worthy performances that didn’t even warrant a mention.

Among this latter category I find Bradley Cooper’s exclusion from the awards a clear snub by a jury headed by less than stellar of late filmmaker Damien Chazelle. Let’s face it Cooper was exceptional as Maestro Leonard Bernstein and, while I love love love Peter Sarsgaard more than words can say, I would argue that getting the prize for a performance in a Michel Franco film encourages the filmmaker to make more films. I know, this is me being catty. I don’t love his work, at all.

Also, The Killer by David Fincher deserved something, possibly even top honor, as it is absolutely brilliant in my humble opinion. But kudos to the team, which included Jane Campion, Mia Hansen-Løve, Martin McDonagh and Laura Poitras, for at least getting some things right. Like Matteo Garrone getting the Silver Lion for Best Direction for Io, Capitano and Cailee Spaeny receiving the Coppa Volpi for Best Actress for her turn as Elvis’ companion and wife in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla.

While I felt, and told anyone who would listen that El Conde was my favorite film in Competition this year on the Lido, I do understand why Guillermo Calderón and Pablo Larraín were given the Award for Best Screenplay and not more. El Conde’s dialogues and story, complete with a plot twist that had the audience in stitches, are simply so sustainedly smart that the film had no equals in that department.

But a film about a female creature, with thirty minutes of frontal nudity and “bouncy fun stuff” by said doll, and fifteen minutes too long which a strong editor (one who could stand up to the filmmaker) would have done away with, IMHO did not deserve top prize. As I’ve said before, this is a man’s world… And we haven’t even started to scratch the surface of understanding how much.

Find all the awards listed below.

The VENEZIA 80 Jury, chaired by Damien Chazelle and comprised of Saleh Bakri, Jane Campion, Mia Hansen-Løve, Gabriele Mainetti, Martin McDonagh, Santiago Mitre, Laura Poitras and Shu Qi having viewed all 23 films in competition, has decided as follows:

GOLDEN LION for Best Film to: POOR THINGS by Yorgos Lanthimos (UK)

SILVER LION – GRAND JURY PRIZE to: AKU WA SONZAI SHINAI (EVIL DOES NOT EXIST) by Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan)

SILVER LION – AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR to: Matteo Garrone for the film IO CAPITANO (ME CAPTAIN) (Italy, Belgium)

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actress: Cailee Spaeny in the film PRISCILLA by Sofia Coppola (USA, Italy)

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actor: Peter Sarsgaard in the film MEMORY by Michel Franco (Mexico, USA)

AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY to: Guillermo Calderón and Pablo Larraín for the film EL CONDE by Pablo Larraín (Chile)

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to: ZIELONA GRANICA (GREEN BORDER) by Agnieszka Holland (Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belgium)

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD for Best Young Actor or Actress to: Seydou Sarr in the film IO CAPITANO (ME CAPTAIN) by Matteo Garrone (Italy, Belgium)

ORIZZONTI

The ORIZZONTI Jury of the 80th Venice Film Festival, chaired by Jonas Carpignano and comprised of Kaouther Ben Hania, Kahlil Joseph, Jean-Paul Salomé and Tricia Tuttle, after screening the 18 feature-length films and 13 short films in competition has decided to award:

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST FILM to: MAGYARÁZAT MINDENRE (EXPLANATION FOR EVERYTHING) by Gábor Reisz (Hungary, Slovakia)

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR to: Mika Gustafson for the film PARADISET BRINNER (PARADISE IS BURNING) (Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Finland)

SPECIAL ORIZZONTI JURY PRIZE to: UNA STERMINATA DOMENICA (AN ENDLESS SUNDAY) by Alain Parroni (Italy, Germany, Ireland)

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS to: Margarita Rosa De Francisco in the film EL PARAÍSO by Enrico Maria Artale (Italy)

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR to: Tergel Bold-Erdene in the film SER SER SALHI (CITY OF WIND) by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France, Mongolia, Portugal, The Netherlands, Germany, Qatar)

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY to: Enrico Maria Artale for the film EL PARAÍSO by Enrico Maria Artale (Italy)

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM to: A SHORT TRIP by Erenik Beqiri (France)

VENICE SHORT FILM NOMINATION FOR THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2023 to: A SHORT TRIP by Erenik Beqiri (France)

ORIZZONTI EXTRA

ARMANI BEAUTY AUDIENCE AWARD to: FELICITÀ (HAPPINESS) by Micaela Ramazzotti (Italy)

LION OF THE FUTURE “LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM

LION OF THE FUTURE – “LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM Jury at the 80th Venice Film Festival, chaired by Alice Diop and comprised of Faouzi Bensaïdi, Laura Citarella, Andrea De Sica and Chloe Domont, has decided to award:

LION OF THE FUTURE “LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM to:

AI SHI YI BA QIANG (LOVE IS A GUN) by Lee Hong-Chi (Hong Kong - China, Chinese Taipei) SETTIMANA INTERNAZIONALE DELLA CRITICA - SIC

VENICE CLASSICS

The VENICE CLASSICS Jury, chaired by Andrea Pallaoro and comprised of 24 students of Cinema, chosen from the professors of Italian University Cinema programmes, has decided to award:

VENICE CLASSICS AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY ON CINEMA to: THANK YOU VERY MUCH by Alex Braverman (USA)

VENICE CLASSICS AWARD FOR BEST RESTORED FILM to: OHIKKOSHI (MOVING) by Shinji Sōmai (Japan, 1993)

VENICE IMMERSIVE

The VENICE IMMERSIVE Jury, chaired by Singing Chen and comprised of Pedro Harres and German Heller, after viewing the 28 projects in competition has decided to award:

VENICE IMMERSIVE GRAND PRIZE to: SONGS FOR A PASSERBY by Celine Daemen (The Netherlands)

VENICE IMMERSIVE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to: FLOW by Adriaan Lokman (The Netherlands, France)

VENICE IMMERSIVE ACHIEVEMENT PRIZE to: EMPEREUR (EMPEROR) by Marion Burger and Ilan Cohen (France, Germany)

GOLDEN LION FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 2023 to: LILIANA CAVANI and TONY LEUNG CHIU-WAI

CARTIER GLORY TO THE FILMMAKER AWARD 2023 to: WES ANDERSON

PREMIO CAMPARI PASSION FOR FILM 2023 to: TONINO ZERA