Michael Fassbender, Faust Win Venice Film Festival Awards

Michael Fassbender in Shame
Michael Fassbender in 'Shame' - Fox Searchlight
Michael Fassbender’s performance in Shame – the provocative drama just picked up by Fox Searchlight – earned the 34 year old actor the Best Actor award at the 68th Venice Film Festival. And Aleksander Sokurov’s Faust, the tale of a man who sells his soul to the devil, was the festival’s big winner, collecting the Best Film prize against stiff competition from David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, Roman Polanski’s Carnage, and Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Official Awards of the 68th Venice Film Festival

Golden Lion for Best Film
Faust by Aleksander Sokurov (Russia)

Silver Lion for Best Director
Shangjun CAI for the film Ren Shan Ren Hai (People Mountain People Sea) (China – Hong Kong)

Special Jury Prize
Terraferma by Emanuele Crialese (Italy)

Coppa Volpi for Best Actor
Michael Fassbender in the film Shame by Steve McQueen (United Kingdom)

Coppa Volpi for Best Actress
Deanie Yip in the film Tao jie (A Simple Life) by Ann Hui (China – Hong Kong)

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress
Shôta Sometani and Fumi Nikaidô in the film Himizu by Sion Sono (Japan)

Osella for the Best Cinematography
Robbie Ryan for the film Wuthering Heights by Andrea Arnold (United Kingdom)

Osella for Best Screenplay
Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou for the film Alpis (Alps) by Yorgos Lanthimos (Grecia)

Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis”Venice Award for a Debut Film
Là-bas by Guido Lombardi (Italy) – International Critics’ Week
and a prize of 100,000 USD, donated by Filmauro di Aurelio e Luigi De Laurentiis, to be divided equally between the director and the producer

ORIZZONTI
Orizzonti Award (full-length films):
Kotoko by Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan)

Special Orizzonti Jury Prize (full-length films):
Whores’ Glory by Michael Glawogger (Austria, Germania)

Orizzonti Award:
Accidentes Gloriosos (medium-length films) by Mauro Andrizzi and Marcus Lindeen (Sweden, Denmark, Germany)

Orizzonti Award (short films):
In attesa dell’avvento by Felice D’Agostino and Arturo Lavorato (Italia)

Special Mentions:
O Le Tulafale (The Orator) by Tusi Tamasese (New Zealand, Samoa)
All The Lines Flow Out by Charles LIM Yi Yong (Singapore)

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO
Controcampo Award (for narrative feature-length films)
Scialla! by Francesco Bruni

Controcampo Award (for short films)
A Chjàna by Jonas Carpignano

Controcampo Doc Award (for documentaries)
Pugni chiusi by Fiorella Infascelli

Special Mentions:
to the documentary Black Block by Carlo Augusto Bachschmidt
to Francesco Di Giacomo for the cinematography of Pugni chiusi

Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement
Marco Bellocchio

Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award 2011
Al Pacino

Persol 3D Award for the Most Creative Stereoscopic Film of the Year
Zapruder Filmmakers Group (David Zamagni, Nadia Ranocchi, and Monaldo Moretti)

L’Oréal Paris Award for Cinema
Nicole Grimaudo