American indie director Jim Jarmusch scored a surprise victory at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, winning the coveted Golden Lion for Father Mother Sister Brother, a three-part meditation on the uneasy relationships between parents and their adult children.
While the gentle comedy received positive reviews, it was not considered a frontrunner for the top prize. Many critics had instead tipped The Voice of Hind Rajab, a harrowing true-life account of the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl during the Gaza war. The film, directed by Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania, ultimately took the runner-up Silver Lion.
Divided into chapters set in New Jersey, Dublin, and Paris, Jarmusch’s film features an ensemble cast including Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Cate Blanchett, and Charlotte Rampling. “All of us here who make films, we’re not motivated by competition. But this is something I truly appreciate, this unexpected honour,” said Jarmusch, who rose to prominence in the 1980s with offbeat films like Stranger Than Paradise.
The festival, often seen as the most glamorous of the major film events, took on a more political tone this year, with the conflict in Gaza casting a long shadow. The Voice of Hind Rajab, which uses real audio of the young girl’s desperate calls for help, was a fan favourite, earning a record 23-minute standing ovation at its premiere.
In her acceptance speech, Ben Hania said, “Cinema cannot bring Hind back, nor can it erase the atrocity committed against her… but cinema can preserve her voice, make it resonate across borders. Her voice will continue to echo until accountability is real, until justice is served.”
The award for Best Director went to Benny Safdie for The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson as mixed martial arts pioneer Mark Kerr. Italy’s Toni Servillo was named Best Actor for his portrayal of a weary president in La Grazia, while China’s Xin Zhilei won Best Actress for her role in the drama The Sun Rises on Us All. The Special Jury Prize went to Gianfranco Rosi for his documentary Below the Clouds, about life in Naples.
Several high-profile films left Venice empty-handed, including Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, and Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia.
Following the ceremony, jury president Alexander Payne defended the decision to award Jarmusch the top prize. “As a jury, we treasure both of those films equally, each for its own reason,” he said. “We wish both of those films a long and important life.” Payne also denied online claims that a juror had threatened to quit over the awards.
