Venice 08. Awards.

"Hollywood outsider Mickey Rourke capped his big screen comeback on Saturday when The Wrestler, in which he plays a lonely, washed out fighter, won the Golden Lion for best film at the Venice festival," report Mike Collett-White and Silvia Aloisi for Reuters. "Directed by Darren Aronofsky, the moving tale poignantly echoes Rourke's own troubled life in and out of the boxing ring and film studio, and critics are tipping the star for an Oscar nomination early next year."

So here's the announcement, which reads nicely: "The Venezia 65 Jury, chaired by Wim Wenders and comprised of Juriy Arabov, Valeria Golino, Douglas Gordon, Lucrecia Martel, John Landis and Johnnie To, having viewed all 21 films in competition, has decided as follows..."

And it's Aronofsky, of course, who'll collect the Golden Lion, though the sentiment for Rourke will be understandable to some. Then:

• Silver Lion for Best Director goes to Aleksey German Jr for Bumažnyj Soldat (Paper Soldier, Russia).

• Special Jury Prize: Teza by Haile Gerima (Ethiopia, Germany, France).

• Coppa Volpi for Best Actor: Silvio Orlando for Il papà di Giovanna, by Pupi Avati (Italy).

• Coppa Volpi for Best Actress: Dominique Blanc for L'autre, by Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic (France).

• Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress: Jennifer Lawrence for The Burning Plain by Guillermo Arriaga (USA).

• Osella for Best Cinematography: Alisher Khamidhodjaev and Maxim Drozdov for Bumažnyj Soldat.

• Osella for Best Screenplay: Haile Gerima for Teza.

• A Special Lion for Overall Work: Werner Schroeter. "The Jury decided to award a Special Lion for his uncompromising and relentlessly innovative work over a period of 40 years to Werner Schroeter."

And a Jury "comprised of Abdellatif Kechiche (President), Alice Braga, Gregory Jacobs, Donald Ranvaud and Heidrun Schleef, has unanimously decided to award the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film to Pranzo Di Ferragosto by Gianni Di Gregorio.

More awards: Lav Diaz wins the top Orizzonti (Horizons) prize for Melancholia. Then there are the Corto Cortissimo and more associated or "Collateral" awards.

Posted by dwhudson at September 6, 2008 1:40 PM