Venice Golden Lion goes to Danish film about women's bodies as battlegrounds
Woman Unknown, a post-war drama from Danish director May el-Toukhy, took the top prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, and its star Mathilde Arcel also walked away with Best Actress. It was a rare double victory, and a moment of quiet vindication for a filmmaker who stood alone among the festival's main competitors.
El-Toukhy was the only woman to solely direct a feature in the 21-film main line-up. That imbalance drew criticism throughout the festival and reopened a familiar, uncomfortable conversation about the barriers women still face in cinema.
The film is set in the aftermath of World War Two. Arcel plays a housemaid whose past relationship with a German soldier threatens to destroy her future. It unfolds in a newly liberated Denmark, where women accused of fraternising with occupying forces were often subjected to vigilante justice.
In her acceptance speech, el-Toukhy was clear about what the story means to her.
To me personally, Woman Unknown is about the female body as a battleground and a public matter. And at the same time, the film tells the tale of women who are invisible, unseen, and voiceless.
John Malkovich named Best Actor for Wild Horse Nine
South Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong took the runner-up Silver Lion for Possible Love. Russian-born filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky won Best Director for DAU, a hugely ambitious project shot largely in Ukraine before the ongoing war. The film has attracted intense scrutiny and controversy, but Khrzhanovsky, who has renounced his Russian citizenship and is a fierce critic of Moscow, dedicated his prize to Ukraine.
John Malkovich was named Best Actor for his performance as an ageing, maverick CIA agent in Martin McDonagh's razor-sharp comedy Wild Horse Nine.
I am humbled to be chosen for this award, which has been given to so many wonderful actors,
said Malkovich, speaking via video link from Canada, where he is shooting a new project.
Venice marks the start of the awards season and regularly throws up big favourites for the Oscars. But many of the big studio-backed contenders that once crowded the schedule were absent this year, as Hollywood reconsiders how to market its movies and cut costs.
Gaza in focus at Venice
In a change of tone, the festival offered a programme steeped in global politics and social upheaval. That included NAZA, a hard-hitting documentary by Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor that won the Special Jury Prize.
Based on anonymous interviews with 24 Israeli intelligence officers and soldiers, the film accuses the Israeli military of routinely approving mass civilian deaths when they target militants in Gaza. Israel has denied the charge.
The documentary received a record 25-minute standing ovation at its premiere on Thursday. It was the second year in succession that a film about Gaza has resonated in Venice, after The Voice of Hind Rajab, a true-life account of the killing of a Palestinian girl during the war.
The Israeli intelligence officers we spoke with talked to us about how this mass killing is systemic, not by accident, but by design,
Abraham said on Saturday.
We believe that the denial of a crime is what helps it persist.
Stéphane Brizé, Coralie Amedeo and Olivier Gorce received the Screenplay award for their well-received French workplace drama A Good Little Soldier. Malou Khebizi was named Best Emerging Young Actor for her role in another French production, A Place to Heal.
Why are women still under-represented in the main competition?
Festival director Alberto Barbera has defended the male-dominated line-up this year, insisting that selection decisions were based on artistic merit rather than quotas. He urged the industry to do more to help women break into the business.
El-Toukhy said female filmmakers continued to face greater difficulties securing financing, limiting budgets, casting opportunities, and, ultimately, access to major festivals.
The head of the main jury, US actor-director Maggie Gyllenhaal, has also raised concerns about the issue. But she rejected on Saturday any suggestion that the Golden Lion had been awarded on gender grounds.
I just want to celebrate a brilliantly made movie that I felt was like a laser beam,
she told reporters.
Sources: Reuters