The 82nd Venice Film Festival came to a close on Saturday, with Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” taking the top award, the Golden Lion for Best Film. The drama starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits and Charlotte Rampling is a triptych that follows three stories set in different countries. “Father” takes place in the Northeast U.S.; “Mother” is set in Dublin; and “Sister Brother” is set in Paris. The movie explores the relationships between adult children, their parents and each other.
In his review of “Father Mother Sister Brother” for TheWrap, Ben Croll referenced Jarmusch’s 2003 collection of vignettes, writing that the new film “feels like a more tonally cohesive ‘Coffee and Cigarettes,’ shot in one contained stretch rather than pieced together from shorts made over a decade. And as with that earlier anthology — as with any anthology — some vignettes land more forcefully than others. In this instance, there is no other but ‘Mother.’”
The Golden Lion was announced by jury president Alexander Payne.
Going into the evening, Kaouther Ben Hania’s drama set in Gaza, “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” was considered the favorite to win the Golden Lion, but it ended up taking instead the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize. (The jury, which also included Fernanda Torres, Mohammad Rasoulof, Zhao Tao, Stéphane Brizé, Maura Delpero and Cristian Mungiu, was rumored to be very divided.)
Croll also reviewed “The Voice of Hind Rajab” for TheWrap, writing that the Tunisian filmmaker (whose 2023 film “Four Daughters” was nominated for an Oscar for best documentary) renders the world “with unbearable clarity. … Setting raw audio against meticulously staged reenactments, her hybrid docufiction gives searing form to the most wrenching material, recreating in real-time the final hours of a six-year-old girl in Gaza.” Croll also noted that when the movie screened, it “drew the most effusive reaction I’ve ever witnessed at the Venice Film Festival – this time from a crowd with no stake in the film. At its Wednesday morning press screening, applause thundered through the credits, breaking only when attendees collapsed into full-body sobs.”
Another American, Benny Safie, took the Silver Lion for Best Director for “The Smashing Machine,” his first solo outing without his brother Josh. The film stars Dwayne Johnson as a mixed martial arts fighter.
“Below the Clouds” from Italian-American filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi won the Special Jury Prize.
Other winners in the Main Competition included Italy’s Toni Servillo, Best Actor for “La Grazia”; China’s Xin Zhilei, Best Actress for “The Sun Rises on Us All”; France’s Gilles Marchand, Best Screenplay for “At Work; and Luna Wedler, Best Young Actress for the German-French-Hungarian film “Silent Friend.”
Below, the complete list of winners of the 2025 Venice Film Festival.
Main Competition
Golden Lion — Best Film
“Father Mother Sister Brother”
Silver Lion — Grand Jury Prize
“The Voice of Hind Rajab”
Silver Lion — Best Director
Benny Safdie, “The Smashing Machine”
Special Jury Prize
“Below the Clouds” by Gianfranco Rosi
Best Actor
Toni Servillo for “La Grazia” (Italy)
Best Actress
Xin Zhilei for “The Sun Rises on Us All” (China)
Best Screenplay
Gilles Marchand for “At Work” (France)
Best Young Actress
Luna Wedler for “Silent Friend” (Germany, France, Hungary)
Armani Beauty Audience Award
“Calle Málaga” by Maryam Touzani
Lion of the Future (Venice Award for Debut Film)
“Short Summer” by Nastia Korkia
Orizzonti (Horizons)
Best Film
“En El Camino” by David Pablos (Mexico)
Special Jury Prize
“Lost Land” by Akio Fujimoto (Japan, France, Malaysia, Germany)
Best Director
Anuparna Roy for “Songs of the Forgotten Trees” (India)
Best Screenplay
Ana Cristina Barragan for “The Ivy” (Ecuador, Mexico, France, Spain)
Best Actress
Benedetta Porcaroli for “The Kidnapping of Arabella” (Italy)
Best Actor
Giacomo Covi for “A Year of School” (Italy, France)
Best Short Film
“Without Kelly,” Lovisa Sirén (Sweden)
Source link
