CHLOÉ ZHAO’S ‘NOMADLAND’ WINS TOP PRIZE AT VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

Sun 13 September 2020:

Nomadland, Chloé Zhao’s look at America’s van-dwelling community, starring Frances McDormand, has won the Golden Lion for best film at the 77th Venice International Film Festival.

McDormand plays a widow from a collapsed Nevada mining town who finds new life on the road in Zhao’s film, based on Jessica Bruder’s 2017 nonfiction book, Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century.

With the Venice win, Nomadland has moved into pole position for the 2021 Oscar race, with Searchlight Pictures sure to throw its weight behind the film as it builds to its Dec. 4 release in North America.

Nomadland pulled off the coup of a triple-premiere on Sept. 11, debuting in competition at Venice, holding a gala premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and celebrating its Telluride-supported U.S. premiere at drive-in screenings in Los Angeles.

The festival on the Lido waterfront was the first such event to go ahead in front of live audiences since the coronavirus pandemic all but shut down the world of showbiz.

“Thank you so much for letting us come to your festival in this weird weird weird world and way,” McDormand said in a video message, with Zhao standing by her side.

The jury led by Australian actress Cate Blanchett gave two runner-up Silver Lion awards, one to Mexican director Michel Franco’s thriller “New Order” and the other to Japanese historic drama “Wife of a Spy,” by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

Veteran Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky was also awarded a special jury prize for “Dear Comrades!,” a film about the 1962 massacre of striking workers in Novocherkassk which had been tipped as a front-runner for the top prize.

British actress Vanessa Kirby, who was in Venice with two films, won the best actress award for her performance as a woman reeling from the grief of losing her newborn daughter during a home birth in “Pieces of a Woman.”

Venice’s best actor honors went to Italian performer Pierfrancesco Favino for his starring role in Padrenosto, the story of a 10-year-old boy who witnesses an assassination attempt on his father, a largely autobiographical drama from director Claudio Noce.

New Order, Michel Franco’s depiction of a brutal, and bloody coup d’état against Mexico’s wealthy ruling class, won the runner-up Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize.

Here is a full list of winners at Venice Film Festival 2020:

GOLDEN LION: Nomadland, Chloé Zhao

SILVER LION – GRAND JURY PRIZE: New Order, Michel Franco

SILVER LION – AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Wife of a Spy

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: Dear Comrades!, Andrei Konchalovsky

AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY: Chaitanya Tamhane, The Disciple

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actress: Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actor: Pierfrancesco Favino, Padrenostro

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD for Best Young Actor or Actress: Rouhollah Zamani, Sun Children

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST FILM: The Wasteland, Ahmad Bahrami

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: Lav Diaz, Genus Pan

SPECIAL ORIZZONTI JURY PRIZE: Listem, Ana Rocha de Sousa

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY: Pietro Castellitto, I Predatori

AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS ORIZZONTI: Khansa Batma, Zanka Contact

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR: Yahya Mahayni, The Man Who Sold His Skin

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM: Entre Tu Y Milagros, Mariana Saffon

VENICE SHORT FILM NOMINATION FOR THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2020: The Shift, Laura Carreira

AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM: Listen, Ana Rocha de Sousa

GRAND JURY PRIZE FOR BEST VR IMMERSIVE WORK: The Hangman at Home, Michelle and Uri Kranot

BEST VR IMMERSIVE USER EXPERIENCE: Finding Pandora X, Kiira Benzing

BEST VR IMMERSIVE STORY: Killing A Superstar, Fan Fan

The Venice awards ceremony, like the entire festival this year, was held under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. Host Anna Foglietta played to a half-empty cinema of socially-distanced guests, all of whom wore masks throughout. Many of the winners accepted their prizes via video link.

Jury President Cate Blanchett handed out this year’s Golden and Silver Lion winners.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!