The 2020 Venice Film Festival concluded this Saturday, September 12, with the awards ceremony. The jury, chaired this year by Australian actress and two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, awarded its Silver Lions to the film New Order and the Japanese drama Wife of a Spy, while the Golden Lion went to the film Nomadland.
Venice Film Festival 2020 is completed. This year, it took place between September 2 and 12 on Lido di Venezia, and 18 films competed for the Golden Lion, eight of which were directed by women.
The best film of the festival, which earned the prestigious Golden Lion, is American Nomadland, and the Silver Lion, awarded for directing, went to a Mexican-French film Nuevo Orden / New Order and a Japanese historical drama Wife of a Spy. Coppa volpi awards for best actor and actress, special Marcello Mastroianni awards for best new young actress or actor and screenplay awards were also presented. The best toy is British Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman), the award for the best actor went to the Italian Pierfrancesco Favina (Padrenostro). He celebrated as a young actor Rouhollah Zamani (Sun Children), and he received the award for the screenplay Chaitnya Tamhane for the movie The Disciple.
The Venice Film Festival 2020 also awarded a Slovenian minority co-production An oasis directed by Ivan Ikić, which received the award for the best European film in the Days of Authors section. After the premiere, the world media praised the authenticity and sensitivity of the film Oasis and described it as "an artistic achievement of human observation". The film is expected to be presented to the Slovenian audience at the end of autumn.
Below you will find the best films from this year's Venice Film Festival as selected by the editors.
Drama
One Night in Miami (2020)
Set on the night of February 25, 1964, the film follows a young Cassius Clay (before he became Muhammad Ali) as he emerges from a Miami Beach convention center as the new heavyweight boxing champion of the world. Despite everything, he defeated Sonny Liston and shocked the sports world. As throngs of people flock to Miami Beach to celebrate the victory, Clay - unable to stay on the island due to Jim Crow-era segregation laws - instead stays overnight at the Hampton House Motel in one of the historically black neighborhoods and celebrates with three of his closest friends friends: activist Malcom X, singer Sam Cooke and football star Jim Brown. The next morning, four men appear, determined to change the world for the better for themselves and their people. One Night in Miami explores what happened during those pivotal hours through the dynamic relationship between the four men, and how their friendship, coupled with their collective efforts, led to them becoming the icons of civil rights in the United States as we know them today. .
Drama
Nomadland (2020)
After the economic downturn of a rural Nevada town, Fern (Frances McDormand) packs her bags and her van and sets off as a modern-day nomad to explore life outside of her normal society. Director Chloé Zhao's third feature features real-life nomads Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells as mentors to Fern and her companions as they explore the vast landscape of the American West.
Comedy drama
Apples / Soap (2020)
In the midst of a global pandemic causing sudden amnesia, Aris finds himself in a recovery program designed to help patients create a new identity. With daily tasks recorded on tapes so that he can create new memories and document them with a camera, he is slowly returning to a normal life. Through strange and surreal performances, the Greek director thinks in an engaging way about memory, identity and loss, and explores how society could manage the epidemic through the story of human self-discovery. Are we the sum of the images we construct and present ourselves, or are we something richer and deeper?
Historical drama
Wife of a Spy (2020)
1940, Kobe, the night before the outbreak of World War II. Local merchant Yusaku Fukuhara senses that things are taking an exciting turn. Leaving his wife Sotaka behind, he travels to Manchuria with his nephew Fumio Takeshito. This Yusaku accidentally witnesses a barbaric act and is so determined to expose it. Meanwhile, Satoko receives a call from her childhood friend, military police officer Taiji Tsumori. He tells Sato that the woman her husband brought with him from Manchuria has died. Consumed with jealousy, Satoko confronts Yusaka. But when she discovers his true intentions, she does the unthinkable to ensure his safety and their happiness. What fate awaits Satoko and Yusaka in these troubled times?
Comedy drama
The Duke (2020)
In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60-year-old taxi driver, stole Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was the first (and only) theft in the history of the gallery. Kempton has sent a ransom demand saying he will return the painting on the condition that the government invests more in elderly care - he has long campaigned for pensioners to have free TV. What happened next is the stuff of legend today. It wasn't until 50 years later that the whole story emerged - Kempton had woven a web of lies. The only truth is that he was a good man, determined to change things and save his marriage - how and why he used the very Duke of Wellington is a wonderfully exciting story.
Drama
Nuevo Orden / New Order
In this dystopian drama, a lavish wedding of the wealthier class succumbs to an unexpected uprising of class struggle that paves the way for a violent coup d'état. As seen through the eyes of a sympathetic young bride and the servants who work for and against her wealthy family, Nuevo Orden follows the collapse of one political system and the rise of another, little more than a bitter exchange. The film is a dystopian view of Mexico, but it's only slightly removed from reality. Today, social and economic differences are increasingly widespread and unsustainable. It is not the first time that this country and the world have encountered a similar scenario, and corrupt governments have in the past responded to all protests with dictatorial violence. Nuevo Orden is a warning: if inequality is not dealt with in a civil way and if everyone who is different is silenced, chaos ensues!
