13th Venice Days Award Winners

The independent section of Venice Film Festival that honors film directors closed today with the awards ceremony and here are the many awards related to this section.

The Jury for the Venice Days Award, chaired by the Canadian artist Bruce LaBruce, has bestowed the 2016 Venice Days Award on the following documentary feature film from the Official Selection:
The War Show by Andreas Dalsgaard and Obaidah Zytoon, Denmark and Finland

Jury Motivation on the Venice Days Award
The War Show provoked an impassioned response from the jury. We were immediately struck by the political and social significance and urgency of the film, while also appreciating its daring and innovative approach to filmmaking. We deliberated on whether or not this harrowing documentary should be included alongside the rest of the Venice Days lineup, which was comprised of narrative fiction features. However, we came to the conclusion that the film worked on its own merits as an outstandingly crafted piece of cinema, not simply one that appealed to our moral conscience. The War Show is also an incredibly topical film that sheds light on an ongoing conflict that is too often ignored or misrepresented by the media. We believe it is a film that each and every one of us should see.

The Jury is composed of the participants in the 28 Times Cinema program: 28 young cinephiles from as many countries in the European Union, selected by the exhibitors in the Europa Cinemas circuit and invited to Venice by the European Parliament LUX Prize, in collaboration with Cineuropa. The award carries a cash prize of €20,000, to be equally divided between the director and the international distributor of the film; the latter is urged to use the sum received to promote the winning film.

Most interesting is when section releases the process to select the award winner and the following is a summary. At the conclusion of the official selection, which consisted of 11 films from 15 different countries this year, the Jury convened this morning, its proceedings open to the public and livestreamed on Venice Days' Facebook channel, to discuss the three films that had garnered the most votes in the previous voting sessions:
Heartstone by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
Hounds of Love by Ben Young
The War Show by Andreas Dalsgaard and Obaidah Zytoon

The reasons for the exclusion of the 8 other films in competition from the above shortlist and from the final deliberations were reviewed, after which the entire jury took part in a run-off vote between two titles that produced a winner. By so doing, after the 28 jurors' initial lack of consensus over the titles in the running for the 2016 Venice Days Award, they were able to declare the Syrian film The War Show best film of this year's edition.

Other Awards

The Europa Cinemas Label goes to Sameblod (Sami Blood) by Amanda Kernell, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.  Kernell will be collecting the award with producer Lars G. Lindström.
The Europa Cinemas Label is devoted to European-produced films and co-productions. The Label was created in 2003 by a network of European exhibitors of independent films (over 2,300 screens in more than 500 European cities), with the support of the European Union's Media Programme, and consists of a cash prize for the distribution and promotion of the winning film, and its release in the cinemas belonging to the network.

The Brian Prize goes to La Ragazza del Mondo (Wordly Girl) by Marco Danieli, Italy
The UAAR (Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics) bestows an award on the best film presented at the Venice Film Festival; director Marco Danieli will be on hand to collect the award.

The Queer Lion goes to Hjartasteinn (Heartstone) by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, Iceland and Denmark
The Queer Lion is a film prize awarded annually since 2007 to the "Best Film with Homosexual & Queer Culture Themes". Director Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson will be on hand to collect the prize.

The Lina Mangiacapre Prize goes to the film Indivisibili (Indivisible) by Edoardo De Angelis, Italy
Created in 1987 by Lina Mangiacapre and awarded by a jury made up of journalists and film critics (50% men, 50% women), the prize aims to "acknowledge films that honor diversity by showing the changing image of women as a subject of historical and cultural interest." Director Edoardo De Angelis and producer Pierpaolo Verga will be on hand to collect the prize.

The Pasinetti Prizes
Best Film: Indivisibili (Indivisible) by Edoardo De Angelis, Italy
Best Actor: Michele Riondino in La Ragazza del Mondo (Worldly Girl) by Marco Danieli, Italy
Best Actress: Sara Serraiocco in La Ragazza del Mondo (Worldly Girl) by Marco Danieli, Italy
Marco Danieli will be collecting the prize on behalf of his actors.
A Special Mention goes to actresses Angela and Marianna Fontana in Indivisibili (Indivisible) by Edoardo De Angelis, who will be collecting the prize on their behalf.
The Pasinetti Prize, named after the director, screenwriter, film critic and photographer Francesco Pasinetti and assigned by the National Syndicate of Italian Film Journalists (SNGCI), is one of the collateral prizes of the Venice Film Festival.

The FEDEORA Prizes (Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean):
Best Film: 再見瓦城 Zai Jian Wa Cheng (The Road to Mandalay) by Midi Z, Myanmar, Taiwan, China, France and Germany; who will be on hand to collect the prize.
Best Debut Filmmaker: Amanda Kernell for  Sameblod (Sami Blood), also on hand to collect the prize.
Best Actress: Ashleigh Cummings in Hounds of Love by Ben Young, Australia; who will collect the prize on behalf of the actress.
Best European Film: Ne gledaj mi u pijat (Quit Staring at My Plate), Hana Jušić, Croatia and Denmark; on hand to collect the prize along with producer Ankica Tilic.

The Lizzani Prize goes to La Ragazza del Mondo (Worldly Girl) by Marco Danieli, Italy
The Lizzani Prize established by ANAC is dedicated to filmmaker Carlo Lizzani, a legendary figure in the Italian film industry and director of the Venice Film Festival from 1979 to 1982. The prize goes to film exhibitors who have shown the most courage in their choices. This year that exhibitor is Sino Accursio Caracappa from Sciacca, who has selected the winning film and will ensure it will be promoted and distributed in his cinemas.

Gianni Astrei Prize goes to Indivisibili (Indivisible) by Edoardo De Angelis, Italy
Director Edoardo De Angelis will be on hand to collect the prize.

To read main winner announcement go official site here and the other awards announcement is here.