A
young
woman
risks
going
to
prison
for
seeking
an
abortion
in
the
1960s
in
France.
Audrey
Diwan's
hard-hitting
drama
film
The
Happening,
about
illegal
abortion,
is
the
second
French
film
to
win
a
major
festival
this
year
since
Julia
Ducournau
received
the
Palme
D'Or
at
the
Cannes
Film
Festival
2021
for
Titane
in
July.
It
was
chosen
from
21
contenders
by
a
jury
led
by
Parasite
director
Bong
Joon-ho.
The
jury
also
included
Chinese-born
director
and
Oscar
winner
Chloe
Zhao,
who
won
the
Golden
Lion
in
2020
with
Nomadland.
After
scaling
down
last
year
due
to
COVID-19,
the
Venice
Film
Festival's
glamour
was
back
in
2021,
albeit
with
necessary
pandemic
precautions
which
included
mandatory
masks,
vaccine
passes
and
maximum
50%
capacity
in
the
cinemas.
Hollywood
stars
and
the
international
crème
de
la
crème
of
the
movie
scene
walked
the
red
carpet
in
Venice.
Among
the
highlights
was
undoubtedly
the
appearance
of
Ben
Affleck
with
his
one-time
girlfriend
Jennifer
Lopez
by
his
side,
to
the
delight
of
many
gossip
magazines.
The
Golden
Lion
And
Women
Directors
Audrey
Diwan
is
the
sixth
woman
to
receive
the
prestigious
Golden
Lion
Award.
Previous
winners
include
Chloe
Zhao
with
Nomadland,
Margarethe
von
Trotta
with
Marianne
&
Juliane,
Agnes
Varda
with
Vagabond,
Mira
Nair
with
Monsoon
Wedding
and
Sofia
Coppola
with
Somewhere.
The
award
for
best
actress
went
to
the
queen
of
Spanish
cinema,
Penelope
Cruz,
for
her
role
in
the
comedy
Parallel
Mothers
-
her
latest
collaboration
with
countryman
Pedro
Almodovar.
She
thanked
the
legendary
Spanish
director
for
"inspiring
me
every
day
with
your
search
for
truth".
Italian
filmmaker
Michelangelo
Frammartino
received
a
special
jury
prize
for
Il
buco
-
a
drama
film
about
a
group
of
speleologists
discovering
a
deep
cave
in
a
remote
area
of
Italy's
south
in
1961.
US
director
Maggie
Gyllenhall
won
the
prize
for
best
screenplay
for
her
psychological
drama
The
Lost
Daughter.
The
Princess
Diana
biopic
Spencer,
starring
US
actress
Kristen
Stewart
as
the
UK
royal,
did
not
receive
any
awards
despite
gathering
critical
acclaim
ahead
of
the
festival.
Serious
Topics
Set
The
Tone
At
Venice
2021
This
year's
festival
was
notably
dominated
by
darker
films.
The
Italian
fantasy
drama
Freaks
Out
had
German
actor
Franz
Rogowski
starring
as
an
eccentric
Nazi
in
a
circus.
US
actor
Oscar
Isaac
starred
in
The
Card
Counter,
a
movie
about
a
man
who
who
took
part
in
torture
and
prisoner
abuse
in
Abu
Ghraib.
And
Jane
Campion's
Western
The
Power
of
the
Dog
-
starring
Benedict
Cumberbatch
and
Kirsten
Dunst
-
focuses
on
two
feuding
brothers
on
a
Montana
ranch
in
the
1920s
and
deals
with
toxic
masculinity,
repressed
homosexuality,
jealousy,
and
addiction.
Campion
won
the
award
for
best
director.
In
recent
years,
success
at
Venice
has
become
a
key
launchpad
for
the
Oscars.
The
last
four
winners
-
Nomadland,
Joker,
Roma,
and
The
Shape
of
Water
-
have
all
gone
on
to
receive
an
Academy
Award.
Text:
DW
News
|
Photo:
Penelope
Cruz
Instagram