72nd Venice International Film Festival

The 72nd annual Venice International Film Festival took place from 2 to 12 September 2015. Alfonso Cuarón served as the president of the jury for the main competition. A restored version of Federico Fellini's film Amarcord was shown at the festival. The Venezuelan film From Afar by Lorenzo Vigas won the Golden Lion award.

Everest was selected as the festival's opening night film, while Guan Hu's drama film Mr. Six served as the closing night film. Actress and director Elisa Sednaoui hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the festival.

The festival poster featured Nastassja Kinski in front as reminiscent of Wim Wenders's Faraway, So Close!, while in the background it featured the character of Antoine Doinel portrayed by Jean-Pierre Léaud from François Truffaut's 1959 drama film The 400 Blows, which also appeared on the 71st Venice International Film Festival poster.

The festival honoured Brian De Palma with Glory to the Filmmaker Award and a documentary film titled De Palma by Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow also screened at the festival. Jonathan Demme received the Persol Tribute to Visionary Talent Award, who also served as the President of Horizons (Orizzonti) section jury.

Juries
The following people formed the 2015 juries:

Main competition (Venezia 72)

 * Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican filmmaker - Jury President
 * Elizabeth Banks, American actress and director
 * Diane Kruger, German actress
 * Emmanuel Carrère, French author, screenwriter and director
 * Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkish director
 * Pawel Pawlikowski, Polish filmmaker
 * Francesco Munzi, Italian director
 * Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwanese filmmaker
 * Lynne Ramsay, Scottish filmmaker

Horizons (Orizzonti)

 * Jonathan Demme, American director - Jury President
 * Alix Delaporte, French director and screenwriter
 * Paz Vega, Spanish actress
 * Fruit Chan, Hong Kong director
 * Anita Caprioli, Italian actress

Opera Prima (Venice Award for a Debut Film)

 * Saverio Costanzo, Italian director - Jury President
 * Roger Garcia, Hong Kong producer
 * Natacha Laurent, French film critic and historian
 * Charles Burnett, American director
 * Daniela Michel, Mexican journalist

In Competition
The following films were selected for the main competition:


 * Highlighted title indicates the Golden Lion winner.

Out of Competition
The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:

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


 * Highlighted title indicate the Orizzonti Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Short Film respectively.

Venice Classics
The following selection of restored classic films and documentaries on cinema were screened for this section:


 * Highlighted titles indicate the Best Restored Film and Best Documentary on Cinema official awards respectively.

Biennale College - Cinema
The following films were screened for the "Biennale College - Cinema" section, a higher education training workshop for micro-budget feature films:

Final Cut in Venice
The following films were screened for the "Final Cut in Venice" section, a workshop to support the post-production of films from Africa:

Il Cinema nel Giardino
The following feature films were selected for the Il Cinema nel Giardino section:

International Critics’ Week
The following films were selected for the 29th Venice International Film Critics' Week:

Venice Days
The following films were selected for the 12th edition of the Venice Days (Giornate degli Autori) section:


 * Highlighted title indicates the official Venice Days Award winner.

Official Awards
The following Official Awards were presented at the 72nd edition:

In Competition (Venezia 72)

 * Golden Lion: From Afar by Lorenzo Vigas
 * Silver Lion for Best Director: Pablo Trapero for The Clan
 * Grand Jury Prize: Anomalisa by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson
 * Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Fabrice Luchini for Courted
 * Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Valeria Golino for Per amor vostro
 * Marcello Mastroianni Award: Abraham Attah for Beasts of No Nation
 * Golden Osella for Best Screenplay: Christian Vincent for Courted
 * Special Jury Prize: Frenzy by Emin Alper

Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

 * Bertrand Tavernier

Horizons (Orizzonti)

 * Best Film: Free in Deed by Jake Mahaffy
 * Best Director: Brady Corbet for The Childhood of a Leader
 * Special Jury Prize: Neon Bull by Gabriel Mascaro
 * Special Prize For Best Actor or Actress: Dominique Leborne for Tempête
 * Horizons Prize for Best Short: Belladonna by Dubravka Turic

Luigi De Laurentis Award for a Debut Film

 * The Childhood of a Leader by Brady Corbet

Venice Classics Awards

 * Best Documentary on Cinema: The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Maddin by Yves Montmayeur
 * Best Restored Film: Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom by Pier Paolo Pasolini

Special Awards

 * Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award: Brian De Palma
 * Persol Tribute To Visionary Talent Award: Jonathan Demme
 * L'Oréal Paris per il Cinema Award: Valentina Corti

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

30th Venice International Critics' Week

 * Audience Award Pietro Barzisa: Tanna by Bentley Dean and Martin Butler

Venice Days

 * Venice Days Award: Early Winter by Michael Rowe
 * BNL People's Choice Award: As I Open My Eyes by Leyla Bouzid
 * Europa Cinemas Label Award for Best European Film: As I Open My Eyes by Leyla Bouzid
 * Laguna Sud Award
 * Best Film: Lolo by Jullie Delpy
 * Best Italian Discovery: Arianna by Carlo Lavagna

Francesco Pasinetti (SNGCI) Award - Special mentions

 * First Light by Vincenzo Marra
 * Vincenzo Marra (director) and Riccardo Scamarcio (leading actor) for First Light

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

FIPRESCI Awards

 * Best Film (Main competition): Blood of My Blood by Marco Bellocchio
 * Best Film (Horizons): Wednesday, 9 May by Vahid Jalilvand
 * Special mention: The Childhood of a Leader by Brady Corbet

SIGNIS Award

 * Behemoth by Zhao Liang
 * Special mention: The Wait by Piero Messina

Francesco Pasinetti (SNGCI) Award

 * Best Film: Don't Be Bad by Claudio Caligari
 * Best Actor: Luca Marinelli for Don't Be Bad
 * Best Actress: Valeria Golino for For Your Love

Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award

 * The Wait by Piero Messina

Brian Award

 * Spotlight by Tom McCarthy

Queer Lion

 * The Danish Girl by Tom Hooper
 * Special mention: Baby Bump by Kuba Czekaj

Arca CinemaGiovani Award

 * Best Film of Venezia 72: Frenzy by Emin Alper
 * Best Italian Film: Burning Love by Albert Caviglia

FEDIC Award

 * Don't Be Bad directed by Claudio Caligari
 * Special mention: The Wait by Piero Messina

Fedeora Awards

 * Best Film (Critics' Week): The Black Hen by Min Bahadur Bham
 * Best Cinematography (Critics' Week): Bentley Dean for Tanna


 * Best Film (Venice Days): Underground Fragrance by Pengfei
 * Best Director of a Debut Film (Venice Days): Ruchika Oberoi for Island City
 * Best Actress in a Debut Film (Venice Days): Ondina Quadri for Arianna


 * Best Euro-Mediterranean film: Francofonia by Alexander Sokurov

Fondazione Mimmo Rotella Award

 * Alexander Sokurov for Francofonia
 * Special Award: Johnny Depp and Terry Gilliam

2nd Starlight Cinema Awards

 * Career Award: Lina Wertmuller
 * International Award: Paz Vega
 * Best Film: Matteo Garrone's Tale of Tales
 * Best breakthrough actress of the year: Silvia D’Amico
 * Best breakthrough actor of the year: Giovanni Anzaldo
 * Humanitarian Award: Myriam Catania
 * Special Mention: Lucana Film Commission
 * Best breakthrough production: Buena Onda by Riccardo Scamarcio
 * Intercultural Award: Reynaldo Gianecchini

Green Drop Award

 * Behemoth by Zhao Liang

Vittorio Veneto Film Festival Young Jury award

 * Remember by Atom Egoyan
 * Special mention: 11 Minutes by Jerzy Skolimowski

Gold Mouse

 * Rabin, the Last Day by Amos Gitai
 * Silver Mouse: Spotlight by Tom McCarthy

Future Film Festival Digital Award

 * Anomalisa by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson
 * Special mention: Heart of a Dog by Laurie Anderson

P. Nazareno Taddei Award

 * Marguèrite by Xavier Giannoli

Lanterna Magica (CGS) Award

 * Blanka by Kohki Hasei

Open Award

 * Carlotta Cerquetti for Harry’s Bar

Lina Mangiacapre Award

 * Laurie Anderson for Heart of a Dog

Gillo Pontecorvo - Arcobaleno Latino Award

 * Don't Be Bad by Claudio Caligari

INTERFILM Award

 * Wednesday, 9 May by Vahid Jalilvand

"Civitas Vitae prossima" Award

 * Alberto Caviglia for Pecore in erba

Soundtrack Stars Award

 * A Bigger Splash by Luca Guadagnino
 * Equals by Drake Doremus
 * Award for Lifetime Achievement: Nicola Piovani

Schermi di Qualità – Carlo Mazzacurati Award

 * Don't Be Bad by Claudio Caligari

Human Rights Nights Award

 * Rabin, the Last Day by Amos Gitai

AssoMusica "Ho visto una Canzone" Award

 * The song "A cuor leggero" by Riccardo Sinigallia, from the film Don't Be Bad

Sorriso diverso Venezia 2015 Award

 * Best Italian film: Don't Be Bad by Claudio Caligari
 * Best Film in a Foreign Language: Blanka by Kohki Hasei

Amnesty International Italia "Il cinema per i diritti umani" Award

 * Visaranai by Vetrimaaran

CITC – UNESCO 2015 Award

 * Beasts of No Nation by Cary Fukunaga

NuovoImaie Talent Award

 * Best Actress in a Debut Film: Ondina Quadri for Arianna
 * Best Italian actor in a Debut Film: Alessandro Borghi for Don't Be Bad

Best Innovative Budget Award

 * A Bigger Splash by Luca Guadagnino