Venice Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi
in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the Lido, Venice
, Italy
. Screenings take place in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi and in other venues nearby. It is one of the world's most prestigious film festivals and is part of the Venice Biennale
, for over a century one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world (founded in 1895). It is known world-wide for the International Film Festival, the International Art Exhibition and the International Architecture Exhibition, and continues the great tradition of the Festival of Contemporary Music, the Theatre Festival, now flanked by the Festival of Contemporary Dance.
The Film Festival's principal awards are the Leone d'Oro (Golden Lion
), which is awarded to the best film screened in competition at the festival, the Leone d'Argento (Silver Lion
)for the Best Director, and the Coppa Volpi (Volpi Cup
), which is awarded to the best actor and actress. The Jury may also choose to award a Special Lion for an overall work to a director or actor of a film presented in the main competition section.
The other sections are:
Orizzonti section (Horizons), open to all “custom-format” works, with a wider view towards new trends in the expressive languages that converge in film.
The awards of the Orizzonti section are:
the Orizzonti Prize
the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize (for feature-length films)
the Orizzonti Short Film Prize
the Orizzonti Medium-length Film Prize
Controcampo Italiano section, presents a panorama on Italian cinema with 7 narrative feature-length films, 7 short films, and 7 documentaries, all world premiere screenings and all in competition in their respective categories. The awards of this section are:
the Controcampo Award (for narrative feature-length films)
the Controcampo Award (for short films)
the Controcampo Doc Award (for documentaries)
In 2011 the 68th festival
took place from 31 August to 10 September.
The Golden Lion is the festival's highest award for best film in the competition section Venezia(plus the number of the edition).
The Silver Lion is awarded to the best director in the competitive section Venezia(plus the number of the edition).
A Special Jury Prize is awarded to one or two films in most years.
The Volpi Cups are awarded to actors. Formal awards for best actor and best actress have been given since 1934. In the mid-1990s awards were also given to supporting actors and actresses.
, they were abandoned upon his ousting in 1943, and eventually returned as the Grand International Prize of Venice in 1947 (see Golden Lion
).
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Giuseppe Volpi
Giuseppe Volpi, 1st Count of Misurata was an Italian businessman and politician....
in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the Lido, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Screenings take place in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi and in other venues nearby. It is one of the world's most prestigious film festivals and is part of the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
, for over a century one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world (founded in 1895). It is known world-wide for the International Film Festival, the International Art Exhibition and the International Architecture Exhibition, and continues the great tradition of the Festival of Contemporary Music, the Theatre Festival, now flanked by the Festival of Contemporary Dance.
The Film Festival's principal awards are the Leone d'Oro (Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
), which is awarded to the best film screened in competition at the festival, the Leone d'Argento (Silver Lion
Silver Lion
The Leone d’Argento refers to a number of awards presented at the Venice Film Festival. The Silver Lion is awarded irregularly and have gone through several changes of purpose. Until 1995, Silver Lions were infrequently awarded to a number of films as second prize for those nominated for the...
)for the Best Director, and the Coppa Volpi (Volpi Cup
Volpi Cup
The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year...
), which is awarded to the best actor and actress. The Jury may also choose to award a Special Lion for an overall work to a director or actor of a film presented in the main competition section.
The other sections are:
Orizzonti section (Horizons), open to all “custom-format” works, with a wider view towards new trends in the expressive languages that converge in film.
The awards of the Orizzonti section are:
the Orizzonti Prize
the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize (for feature-length films)
the Orizzonti Short Film Prize
the Orizzonti Medium-length Film Prize
Controcampo Italiano section, presents a panorama on Italian cinema with 7 narrative feature-length films, 7 short films, and 7 documentaries, all world premiere screenings and all in competition in their respective categories. The awards of this section are:
the Controcampo Award (for narrative feature-length films)
the Controcampo Award (for short films)
the Controcampo Doc Award (for documentaries)
In 2011 the 68th festival
68th Venice International Film Festival
The 68th annual Venice Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, took place from 31 August to 10 September 2011. American film director Darren Aronofsky was announced as the Head of the Jury. American actor and film director Al Pacino was presented with the Glory to the Film-maker award on 4 September,...
took place from 31 August to 10 September.
Golden Lion winners
- See a list of winners at Golden LionGolden LionIl Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
The Golden Lion is the festival's highest award for best film in the competition section Venezia(plus the number of the edition).
Silver Lion for best director
- See list of winners at Silver LionSilver LionThe Leone d’Argento refers to a number of awards presented at the Venice Film Festival. The Silver Lion is awarded irregularly and have gone through several changes of purpose. Until 1995, Silver Lions were infrequently awarded to a number of films as second prize for those nominated for the...
The Silver Lion is awarded to the best director in the competitive section Venezia(plus the number of the edition).
Special Jury Prize
- See list of winners at Special Jury Prize (Venice Film Festival)Special Jury Prize (Venice Film Festival)The Special Jury Prize is an award given at the Venice Film Festival. It is awarded to one or two films per year and is considered less prestigious than the main award, the Golden Lion.-Awards:*1951 A Streetcar Named Desire by Elia Kazan...
A Special Jury Prize is awarded to one or two films in most years.
Volpi Cups
- For a list of winners, see Volpi CupVolpi CupThe Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year...
.
The Volpi Cups are awarded to actors. Formal awards for best actor and best actress have been given since 1934. In the mid-1990s awards were also given to supporting actors and actresses.
Golden Osella
There are two Golden Osella Prizes: for Best Technical Contribution (to cinematographers, composers, etc) and for Best Screenplay.Persol 3D Award
The Persol 3-D Award – the first international prize of its kind, founded in 2009 - aims to celebrate a new frontier in cinematic language that is attracting increasing creative interest among filmmakers and studios, and is becoming extremely popular among the public.Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award
- 2007 Kitano Takeshi in Glory to the Filmmaker!Glory to the Filmmaker!is a 2007 Japanese film written, directed, edited by the film's lead star Takeshi Kitano. It is the second film in Kitano's surrealist autobiographical trilogy, following Takeshis, and concluding with Achilles and the Tortoise.-Movie Style:...
- 2008 Abbas KiarostamiAbbas KiarostamiAbbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...
in ShirinShirin (film)Shirin is a 2008 film directed by master Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami. The film is considered by some critics as a notable twist in the artistic career of Kiarostami.... - 2009 Sylvester StalloneSylvester StalloneMichael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
in RamboRambo (film)Rambo is a 2008 German/American Action film starring Sylvester Stallone returning and reprising his famous role as legendary Cold War/Vietnam veteran John Rambo. Stallone also co-wrote and directed the film. It is the fourth and most recent installment in the Rambo franchise, twenty years since... - 2010 Mani RatnamMani RatnamMani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...
in Raavanan - 2011 Al PacinoAl PacinoAlfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
in Wilde SalomeWilde SalomeWilde Salome is 2011 American documentary-drama film written, directed by and starring Al Pacino. An exploration of Oscar Wilde's play Salome, the film premiered at the 68th Venice International Film Festival...
Mussolini Cups
The Mussolini Cups were the top awards from 1934 to 1942. Named after Italy's then dictator prime minister, Benito MussoliniBenito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, they were abandoned upon his ousting in 1943, and eventually returned as the Grand International Prize of Venice in 1947 (see Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
).
Mussolini Cup for best Italian Film
- 1934 Teresa Confalonieri by Guido BrignoneGuido BrignoneGuido Brignone was an Italian film director. He was the father of actress Lilla Brignone.Brignone was born in Milan, Italy...
- 1935 Casta Diva by Carmine GalloneCarmine GalloneCarmine Gallone was an early acclaimed Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Considered one of Italian cinema's top early directors, he directed over 120 films in his fifty year career between 1913 and 1963.-Filmography:*Il bacio di Cirano *La donna nuda *Senza colpa! *Fior di...
- 1936 Lo squadrone biancoLo squadrone biancoLo squadrone bianco is a 1936 Italian film directed by Augusto Genina. The plot features a cavalry lieutenant, unlucky in love, who redeems himself by battling the "rebels" of Tripolitania...
by Augusto GeninaAugusto GeninaAugusto Genina was an Italian film pioneer. He was a movie producer and director.Born in Rome, Genina was a drama critic and wrote comedies for the Il Mondo Magazine, under advise of Aldo de Benedetti switches to movies for the "Film d'Arte Italiana", that produces his first film "La moglie di sua... - 1937 Scipione l'Africano by Carmine GalloneCarmine GalloneCarmine Gallone was an early acclaimed Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Considered one of Italian cinema's top early directors, he directed over 120 films in his fifty year career between 1913 and 1963.-Filmography:*Il bacio di Cirano *La donna nuda *Senza colpa! *Fior di...
- 1938 Luciano Serra pilota by Goffredo AlessandriniGoffredo AlessandriniGoffredo Alessandrini was an Italian script writer and film director. He also acted, edited, and produced some films.-Biography:...
- 1939 Abuna Messias by Goffredo AlessandriniGoffredo AlessandriniGoffredo Alessandrini was an Italian script writer and film director. He also acted, edited, and produced some films.-Biography:...
- 1940 L'assedio dell'Alcazar by Augusto GeninaAugusto GeninaAugusto Genina was an Italian film pioneer. He was a movie producer and director.Born in Rome, Genina was a drama critic and wrote comedies for the Il Mondo Magazine, under advise of Aldo de Benedetti switches to movies for the "Film d'Arte Italiana", that produces his first film "La moglie di sua...
- 1941 La corona di ferro by Alessandro BlasettiAlessandro BlasettiAlessandro Blasetti was an Italian film director who influenced Italian neorealism with the film Quattro passi fra le nuvole...
- 1942 Bengazi by Augusto GeninaAugusto GeninaAugusto Genina was an Italian film pioneer. He was a movie producer and director.Born in Rome, Genina was a drama critic and wrote comedies for the Il Mondo Magazine, under advise of Aldo de Benedetti switches to movies for the "Film d'Arte Italiana", that produces his first film "La moglie di sua...
Mussolini Cup for best foreign film
- 1934 Man of AranMan of AranMan of Aran is a fictional documentary by Robert J. Flaherty about life on the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. It portrays characters living in premodern conditions, documenting their daily routines such as fishing off high cliffs, farming potatoes where there is little soil, and...
by Robert J. FlahertyRobert J. FlahertyRobert Joseph Flaherty, F.R.G.S. was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature length documentary film, Nanook of the North...
(Irish Free State) - 1935 Anna KareninaAnna Karenina (1935 film)Anna Karenina is a 1935 film directed by Clarence Brown. The film stars Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Basil Rathbone and Maureen O'Sullivan. It is the most famous and critically acclaimed film adaptation of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. There are several other film adaptations of the novel.In New...
by Clarence BrownClarence BrownClarence Brown was an American film director.-Early life:Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to a cotton manufacturer, Brown moved to the South when he was 11. He attended Knoxville High School and the University of Tennessee, both in Knoxville, Tennessee, graduating from the university at the age of...
(United States) - 1936 Der Kaiser von KalifornienThe Kaiser of CaliforniaThe Kaiser of California, better known as "The Emperor of California" , is a 1936 film that has the unique distinction of being the first western film made in Nazi Germany...
by Luis TrenkerLuis TrenkerLuis Trenker was a German-language South Tyrolian film director, architect, and actor.-Biography:...
(Germany) - 1937 Un carnet de bal by Julien DuvivierJulien DuvivierJulien Duvivier was a French film director. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930-1960...
(France) - 1938 Olympia 1.Teil – Fest der VölkerOlympia (1938 film)Olympia is a 1938 Nazi propaganda film by Leni Riefenstahl documenting the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany. The film was released in two parts: Olympia 1. Teil — Fest der Völker and Olympia 2. Teil — Fest der Schönheit . It was the first documentary feature...
by Leni RiefenstahlLeni RiefenstahlHelene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
(Germany) - 1940 Der PostmeisterDer PostmeisterDer Postmeister was a 1941 German film directed by Gustav Ucicky. Released during the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, it depicts Russians in a sympathetic light, unlike their depiction in such films as Friesennot before or GPU after.At the Venice Film Festival, it won the Mussolini Cup for best foreign...
by Gustav UcickyGustav UcickyGustav Ucicky was an acclaimed Austrian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. He was one of the more successful and acclaimed directors in Austria and Germany from the 1930s through to the early 1960s...
(Germany) - 1941 Ohm KrügerOhm KrügerOhm Krüger was a 1941 propaganda film, produced in Nazi Germany, about Paul Kruger in the Boer War. It was the first film to be awarded the 'Film of the Nation' award. It was re-released in 1944.-Plot:...
by Hans SteinhoffHans SteinhoffHans Steinhoff was a German film director, best known for the films he made in the Nazi era. His most notable film was Ohm Krüger, for which he won the Mussolini Cup at the 1941 Venice Film Festival.-Filmography:*Hitlerjunge Quex...
(Germany) - 1942 Der große König by Veit HarlanVeit HarlanVeit Harlan was a German film director and actor.-Life and career:Harlan was born in Berlin. After studying under Max Reinhardt, he first appeared on the stage in 1915 and, after World War I, worked in the Berlin stage. In 1922 he married Jewish actress and cabaret singer Dora Gerson; the couple...
(Germany)
Best director awards
- 1935 King VidorKing VidorKing Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
for The Wedding NightThe Wedding NightThe Wedding Night is a 1935 American romantic drama film directed by King Vidor, and starring Gary Cooper, Anna Sten, and Ralph Bellamy. Vidor won the Best Director Award at the Venice Film Festival.-Plot:... - 1936 Jacques FeyderJacques FeyderJacques Feyder was a Belgian actor, screenwriter and film director who worked principally in France, but also in the USA, Britain and Germany. He was a leading director of silent films during the 1920s, and in the 1930s he became associated with the style of poetic realism in French cinema...
for La Kermesse Héroique - 1937 Robert J. FlahertyRobert J. FlahertyRobert Joseph Flaherty, F.R.G.S. was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature length documentary film, Nanook of the North...
and Zoltan KordaZoltán KordaZoltan Korda was a Hungarian-born motion picture screenwriter, director and producer.Born Zoltán Kellner, Kellner Zoltán in Hungarian name order, of Jewish heritage in Pusztatúrpásztó, Túrkeve in Hungary , he was the middle brother of filmmakers Alexander and Vincent Korda.Zoltan Korda went to...
for Elephant BoyElephant Boy (film)Elephant Boy is a 1937 British adventure film starring Sabu in his film debut. Documentary filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty and Zoltan Korda won the Best Director Award at the Venice Film Festival... - 1938 Carl FroelichCarl FroelichCarl August Froelich was a German film pioneer and film director.-Apparatus builder and cameraman:...
for HeimatHeimatHeimat is a German word that has no simple English translation. It is often expressed with terms such as home or homeland, but these English counterparts fail to encapsulate the true meaning of the word.-The meaning of Heimat:...
See also
- Venice BiennaleVenice BiennaleThe Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
- Rome Film Festival
- Festival del film Locarno
External links
- La Biennale di Venezia – Official website
- Venice International Film Festival history at La Biennale di Venezia website
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