68th Venice International Film Festival

The 68th annual Venice International Film Festival was held in Venice, Italy between 31 August and 10 September 2011. American film director Darren Aronofsky was announced as the Head of the Jury. American actor and film director Al Pacino was presented with the Glory to the Film-maker award on 4 September, prior to the premiere of his upcoming film Wilde Salomé. Marco Bellocchio was awarded with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in September. The festival opened with the American film The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney, and closed with Damsels in Distress by Whit Stillman.

Juries
The international juries of the 68th Venice International Film Festival were composed as follows:

Main competition (Venezia 68)

 * Darren Aronofsky, American director - Jury President
 * Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Finnish visual artist and filmmaker
 * David Byrne, British-American musician
 * Todd Haynes, American filmmaker
 * Mario Martone, Italian filmmaker
 * Alba Rohrwacher, Italian actress
 * André Téchiné, French filmmaker

Horizons (Orizzonti)

 * Jia Zhangke, Chinese filmmaker - Jury President
 * Stuart Comer, British Curator of Film at Tate Modern
 * Odile Decq, French architect
 * Marianne Khoury, Egyptian director
 * Jacopo Quadri, Italian film editor

Controcampo Italiano

 * Stefano Incerti, Italian author - Jury President
 * Aureliano Amadei, Italian actor
 * Cristiana Capotondi, Italian actress

Opera Prima (Venice Award for a Debut Film)

 * Carlo Mazzacurati, Italian director - Jury President
 * Aleksei Fedorchenko, Russian director
 * Fred Roos, American producer
 * Charles Tesson, French Artistic Director of the International Critics' Week at the Cannes Film Festival
 * Serra Yilmaz, Turkish actress

In Competition
The following films were selected to compete for the Golden Lion:
 * Highlighted title indicates the Golden Lion winner.

Out of Competition
The following films were shown out of competition:

Horizons (Orizzonti)
The following films were selected for the Horizons (Orizzonti) section:


 * Highlighted title indicates the Orizzonti Award for Best Feature Film winner.

Controcampo Italiano
The following films, representing "new trends in Italian cinema", were screened in this section:

In competition

Italian avant-garde retrospective
The following films were shown as part of a retrospective section on Italian avant-garde films, titled Orizzonti 1961-1978, spanning the years 1961 to 1978.

Venice International Film Critics' Week
The following films were screened for this section:

Venice Days
The following films were screened as part of the Venice Days section The three nominees for the European Parliament's 2011 Lux Prize received screenings as part of this section.

Official Awards
The following Official selection awards were conferred at the festival:

In Competition (Venezia 68)

 * Golden Lion: Faust
 * Silver Lion for Best Director: Cai Shangjun, for People Mountain People Sea
 * Special Jury Prize: Terraferma by Emanuele Crialese
 * Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Michael Fassbender for Shame
 * Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Deanie Ip for A Simple Life
 * Marcello Mastroianni Award: Shōta Sometani and Fumi Nikaidō for Himizu
 * Golden Osella for Best Cinematography: Robbie Ryan for Wuthering Heights
 * Golden Osella for Best Screenplay: Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou for Alps

Horizons (Orizzonti)

 * Horizons Award: Kotoko by Shinya Tsukamoto
 * Special Horizons jury prize: Whores' Glory by Michael Glawogger
 * Horizons Award for medium-length film: Accidentes Gloriosos by Mauro Andrizzi and Marcus Lindeen
 * Horizons Award for short film: In attesa dell'avvento by Felice D'Agostino and Arturo Lavorato
 * Special mentions:
 * O Le Tulafale by Tusi Tamasese
 * All The Lines Flow Out by Charles LIM Yi Yong

Controcampo Italiano

 * Best Feature film: Scialla! by Francesco Bruni
 * Best Short film: A Chjàna by Jonas Carpignano
 * Best Documentary: Pugni chiusi by Fiorella Infascelli
 * Special Mentions:
 * Black Block by Carlo Augusto Bachschmidt
 * Franco Di Giacomo (cinematography) for Pugni chiusi

"Luigi de Laurentis" Award for a Debut Film

 * Là-bas by Guido Lombardi

Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

 * Marco Bellocchio

Special Awards

 * Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award: Al Pacino
 * Persol 3D Award for the Most Creative Stereoscopic Film: Zapruder Filmmakers Group (David Zamagni, Nadia Ranocchi & Monaldo Moretti)
 * L'Oréal Paris Award for Cinema: Nicole Grimaudo

Independent Sections Awards
The following official and collateral awards were conferred to films of the autonomous sections:

Venice International Film Critics' Week

 * Critics' Week Audience Award: Là-bas by Guido Lombardi

Venice Days (Giornati degli Autori)

 * Label Europa Cinemas Award: Guilty by Vincent Garenq
 * Lina Mangiacapre Award: Shun Li and the Poet by Andrea Segre
 * Laterna Magica Award: Shun Li and the Poet by Andrea Segre
 * FEDIC Award: Shun Li and the Poet by Andrea Segre

Independent Awards
The following collateral awards were conferred to films of the official selection:

FIPRESCI Award

 * Best Film (Main competition): Shame by Steve McQueen
 * Best Film (Horizons): Two Years at Sea by Ben Rivers

Queer Lion

 * Wilde Salomé by Al Pacino

SIGNIS Award

 * Faust by Alexander Sokurov
 * Special mention: A Simple Life by Ann Hui

Francesco Pasinetti Award (SNGCI)

 * Best Film: Terraferma by Emanuele Crialese
 * Best Debut (or Special mention): The Last Man on Earth by Gian Alfonso Pacinotti

Cicae Prize

 * The Orator by Tusi Tamasese

Leoncino d'oro Agiscuola Award

 * Carnage by Roman Polanski

Cinema for UNICEF Award

 * Terraferma by Emanuele Crialese

C.I.C.T. UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award

 * Tahrir 2011: The Good, the Bad, and the Politician by Tamer Ezzat, Ahmad Abdalla, Ayten Amin, Amr Salama

Nazareno Taddei Award

 * A Simple Life by Ann Hui

CinemAvvenire Award – Best Film

 * Shame by Steve McQueen

Best Film – Il cerchio non è rotondo Award

 * The Orator by Tusi Tamasese

Equal Opportunity Award

 * A Simple Life by Ann Hui

Future Film Festival Digital Award

 * Faust by Alexander Sokurov
 * Special mention: Kotoko by Shinya Tsukamoto

Gianni Astrei Award

 * A Simple Life by Ann Hui

Brian Award

 * The Ides of March by George Clooney

Lina Mangiacapre Award – Special mention

 * Maternity Blues by Fabrizio Cattani

AIF Forfilmfest Award

 * Easy! (Scialla!) by Francesco Bruni

Biografilm Lancia Award

 * Black Block by Carlo Augusto Bachschmidt

Mimmo Rotella Foundation Award

 * The Last Man on Earth by Gian Alfonso Pacinotti
 * Special mention: Pasta nera by Alessandro Piva (Controcampo Italiano)

Golden Mouse

 * Killer Joe by William Friedkin

Premio Open

 * Marco Müller