Female filmmakers ruled the 2021 Venice Film Festival awards ceremony, as a trio of women took home the top honors awarded by this year’s jury.
“L’Evénement,” a timely French abortion drama from director Audrey Diwan, won the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival, making Diwan the second woman in a row to win the top honor after Chloe Zhao last year for “Nomadland.”
The Silver Lion for Best Director went to “The Power of the Dog” filmmaker Jane Campion, who is now just the second woman to win Best Director from the Venice Film Festival and first since 2009. Even at this early point in the season, Campion is widely considered an Oscars favorite in the Best Director category (and her film is the top choice for Best Picture); she’s one of only seven women to ever receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and previously won an Oscar for screenwriting for 1993’s “The Piano.”
The Best Screenplay award, meanwhile, was given to Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s “The Lost Daughter” has already received acclaim through its festival bows at Venice and the Telluride Film Festival. “I was married in Italy, in Puglia. I found out I was pregnant with my second daughter in Italy. Really, my life as a director and writer and my film was born here, in this theater,” Gyllenhaal said while accepting the award. The actress-turned-director also thanked Campion for her contributions to cinema, Indiewire reported.
Both “The Power of the Dog” and “The Lost Daughter” are among the stable of Netflix releases angling for major Oscar consideration next year. But the studio also won another two honors at the Venice Film Festival, both for Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God.”
The Marcello Mastroianni Award, an honor given to emerging talent, was won by “The Hand of God” star Filippo Scotti. “The Hand of God” itself won the Grand Jury Prize from the festival, the ostensible runner-up award for the Golden Lion trophy.
Other winners at the 2021 Venice Film Festival included Penelope Cruz, who won Best Actress for Pedro Almodovar’s “Parallel Mothers,” and John Arcilla, who took Best Actor for “On The Job: The Missing 8.”
Among this year’s Venice Film Festival jurors were last year’s Golden Lion winner, Zhao, and Bong Joon Ho. Zhao and Bong are the last two Oscar winners for Best Director.
Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” has a limited theatrical release in November before hitting Netflix on December 1. Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter” is out in limited release in December before coming to Netflix on December 31. “The Hand of God” splits the difference and arrives on Netflix on December 15.
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
