Venice Film Festival: Golden Lion for “The Room Next Door” by Pedro Almodóvar – Culture

The Golden Lion of the Venice Film Festival goes to the film “The Room Next Door” by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. The jury announced this in the evening. The drama tells the story of two friends who have to deal with death. Tilda Swinton plays a woman with terminal cancer who asks an old friend (Julianne Moore) for a complicated favor. They do not want to be alone at the moment of their self-imposed death. The film is based on the novel “What are you missing?” by Sigrid Nunez.

Almodóvar dedicated the award to his family and his two leading actresses, Swinton and Moore. “You have performed a miracle,” he said. The film is about solidarity, but also about the right to a self-determined death. “People must have the freedom to live and die.”

Pedro Almodóvar is Spain's most internationally famous director. His film “All About My Mother” won an Oscar in 2000. The 74-year-old received another Oscar in 2003 for “Talk to Her.” “The room next door“ is his first English-language feature film.

Australian actress Nicole Kidman won the award for best actress at the film festival. Frenchman Vincent Lindon was honored as best actor. In “Babygirl“Kidman, 57, plays a woman who lives out long-suppressed sexual desires. The erotic drama by Dutch director Halina Reijn tells the story of female desire in an innovative way. Kidman plays a businesswoman who begins an affair with a much younger intern (Harris Dickinson).

Because of her mother's death, Kidman did not attend the award ceremony. Director Halina Reijn read a message on her behalf: “Today I arrived in Venice to learn shortly afterwards that my beautiful, brave mother Janelle Ann has died. I am in shock and need to go to my family, but this award is for her.”

Open detailed view

Lindon, 65, plays in the drama “Playing with fire“ by Delphine and Muriel Coulin tells the story of a single father who has to deal with the fact that one of his sons is becoming involved in the far-right milieu.

The Italian director Maura Delpero received for her film “Vermilion” the Grand Jury Prize. The film tells the story of a family's life in an Italian mountain village during the Second World War. When a deserter turns up, the siblings' dynamics are disrupted. The film focuses primarily on the female characters and their lives shaped by Catholicism and patriarchal structures.

The Silver Lion for Best Director was won by American Brady Corbet for “The Brutalist“The historical drama tells the story of a Jewish architect who wants to start a new life in the USA after the Second World War. The main actor of the three-and-a-half-hour epic is Adrien Brody.

Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega won for “I am still here“ (international title: “I'm Still Here”) won the award for best screenplay. The drama tells the story of a family that experiences the cruel effects of the Brazilian military dictatorship in the 1970s.

A special jury prize was awarded to Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili for “April“The drama is about a gynecologist who performs illegal abortions in rural Georgia. Kulumbegashvili, born in 1986, uses long shots in her film and combines documentary-like scenes with dream sequences.

The 81st Venice Film Festival, which began on August 28th, was one of the three most important in the world, alongside the Cannes Film Festival and the Berlinale. In this year's competition, 21 works competed for the prizes. The awards were presented by an international jury, chaired by the French actress Isabelle Huppert.