Surprise choice for Golden Lion is Italian documentary. Silver Lion for best director goes to Alexandros Avranas for Miss Violence.

The surprise winner of the Venice Golden Lion is Gianfranco Rosi’s Italian documentary Sacro GRA, about life on the highway that surrounds Rome.

It marks the first time a documentary has ever won the Golden Lion.

Greek film Miss Violence had a strong showing winning both best director for Alexandros Avranas and best actor for Themis Panou.

The Venezia 70 Jury, chaired by Bernardo Bertolucci and comprised of Andrea Arnold, Renato Berta, Carrie Fisher, Martina Gedeck, Jiang Wen, Pablo Larraín, Virginie Ledoyen, Ryuichi Sakamoto has awarded the following prizes:

MAIN COMPETITION AWARDS

GOLDEN LION for Best Film
Sacro GRA
, Gianfranco Rosi (Italy, France)

SILVER LION for Best Director
Alexandros Avranas, Miss Violence (Greece)

GRAND JURY PRIZE

  • Jiaoyou, Tsai Ming-liang (Chinese Taipei, France)
  • Best Actor: Themis Panou, Miss Violence
  • Best Actress: Elena Cotta, Via Castellana Bandiera

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD
for Best Young Actor or Actress
Tye Sheridan, Joe (US)

AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY
Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope, Philomena (UK)

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
The Police Officer’s Wife
, Philip Gröning (Germany)

LION OF THE FUTURE – “LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM

Jury: Haifaa al Mansour, Amat Escalante, Alexej German Jr., Geoffrey Gilmore, Ariane Labed, Maria Sole Tognazzi

White Shadow, Noaz Deshe (Italy, Germany, Tanzania) [$100,000 prize]

ORIZZONTI AWARDS

Jury: Paul Schrader, Catherine Corsini, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Golshifteh Farahani, Frédéric Fonteyne, Kseniya Rappoport, Amr Waked

BEST FILM
Eastern Boys
, Robin Campillo (France)

BEST DIRECTOR
Uberto Pasolini, Still Life (UK, Italy)

JURY PRIZE
Ruin
, Michael Cody, Amiel Courtin-Wilson (Australia)

INNOVATIVE CONTENT
Mahi va Gorbeh
, Shahram Mokri (Iran)

BEST SHORT FILM
Kush
, Shubhashish Bhutiani (India)

VENEZIA CLASSICI AWARDS

BEST DOCUMENTARY ON CINEMA
Double Play: James Benning And Richard Linklater
, Gabe Klinger (US, Portugal, France)

BEST RESTORED FILM
La Proprietà Non È Più Un Furto
, Elio Petri (Italy, France)

EUROPEAN SHORT FILM 2013
Houses With Small Windows
, Bülent Öztürk (Belgium)

FIPRESCI PRIZES

International Competition
Tom at the Farm,
Xavier Dolan (Canada\France)

Prize for a debut film in Horizons or Critics’ Week
The Reunion,
Anna Odell