Venice Rule Strips The Master Of Golden Lion, Top Honor Goes To Kim Ki-Duk's Pieta (Full Winners List)

Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master was set to receive the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter's inside source, until a decision to allow only two major awards per film forced jury members to re-assign the top honor to another contender. When the awards were doled out earlier today by Venice jury president Michael Mann, the best picture prize went to Kim Ki-Duk's ultraviolent mother-son flick Pieta while Best Director went to Anderson. (Full list of winners follows.)

Per THR: "Apparently during the jury's first deliberations, members decided to give The Master — a drama loosely based on the origins of Scientology — the top prize, as well as the Silver Lion directing award to Anderson and the acting award jointly to co-stars Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman."

UPDATED: Asked to redeliberate, the jury instead gave the Golden Lion to Pieta, leaving The Master with a joint Best Actor prize shared by stars Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, along with the Silver Lion (Best Director) for Anderson. The Master had been hotly tipped for The Golden Lion, backed by a groundswell of critical praise ahead of its September 21 theatrical release.

Full list of Venice Film Festival winners announced today, via Indiewire/Venice Film Festival:

Golden Lion (Best Picture)
Pieta, Kim-Ki Duk

Silver Lion (Best Director)
Paul Thomas Anderson - "The Master"

Volpi Cup - Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix & Philip Seymour Hoffman - "The Master"

Volpi Cup - Best Actress
Hadas Yaron - "Fill The Void"

Special Jury Award
Ulrich Seidl - Paradise: Faith

Mastroianni Award - Best Young Actor
Fabrizio Falcone - "Dormant Beauty," "It Was The Son"

Best Screenplay
Olivier Assayas - "Something In The Air"

Technical Achievement
Daniele Cipri - "Il Stato E Figlio,"

Luigi De Laurentiis Award (Best First Feature)
"Kuf: Mold," Ali Aydin

Orrizonti: Best Feature
"Three Sisters," Wang Bing

Orrizonti: Jury Prize
"Tango Libre," Frederic Fonteyne

FIPRESCI Award (Competition)
"The Master," Paul Thomas Anderson

FIPRESCI Award (Orizzonti/Critics' Week)
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Constanzo

SIGNIS Award
"To the Wonder," Terrence Malick

SIGNIS Award (Special Mention)
"Fill the Void," Rama Burshtein

Audience Award (Critics' Week)
"Eat Sleep Die," Gabriela Pilcher

Label Europa Cinemas Award
"Crawl," Herve Lasgouttes

Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award
"Pieta," Kim Ki-duk

Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award (Cinema for UNICEF mention)
"It Was the Son," Daniele Cipri

Pasinetti Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Constanzo

Pasinetti Award (Documentary)
"The Human Cargo," Daniele Vicari

Pasinetti Award (Best Actor)
Valerio Mastandrea, "Gli Equilibristi"

Pasinetti Award (Special)
"Clarisse," Liliana Cavani

Brian Award
"Dormant Beauty," Marco Bellocchio

Queer Lion Award
"The Weight," Jeon Kyu-Hwan

Arca CinemaGiovani Award (Best Film of Venezia 69)
"The Fifth Season," Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth

Arca CinemaGiovani Award (Best Italian Film)
"The Ideal City," Luigi Lo Casco

Biografilm Lancia Award
"The Human Cargo," Daniele Vicari; "Bad 25," Spike Lee

CICT-UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo

CICAE Award
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour

CinemaAvvenire Award (Best Film of Venezia 69)
"Paradise: Faith," Ulrich Seidl

CinemAvvenire Award (Diversity)
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour

FEDIC Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo

FEDIC Award (Special Mention)
"Bellas Mariposas," Salvatore Mereu

Mimmo Rotella Foundation Award
"Something in the Air," Olivier Assayas

Future Film Festival Digital Award
"Bad 25," Spike Lee

Future Film Festival Digital Award (Special Mention)
"Spring Breakers," Harmony Korine

P. Nazareno Taddei Award
"Pieta," Kim Ki-duk

P. Nazareno Taddei Award (Special Mention)
"Thy Womb," Brillante Mendoza

Magic Lantern Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo

Open Award
"The Company You Keep," Robert Redford

La Navicella-Venezia Cinema Award
"Thy Womb," Brillante Mendoza

Lina Mangiacapre Award
"Queen of Montreuil," Solveig Anspach

AIF-FORFILMFEST Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo

Mouse d'Oro Award
"Pieta," Kim Ki-duk

Mouse d'Argento Award
"Anton's Right Here," Lyubov Arkus

UK-Italy Creative Industries Award
"The Interval," Leonardo Di Costanzo

Gillo Pontecorvo-Arcobaleno Latino Award
Laura Delli Colli

Christopher D. Smithers Foundation Award
"Low Tide," Roberto Minervini

Interfilm Award
"Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour

Giovani Giurati del Vittorio Veneto Film Festival Award
"The Company You Keep," Robert Redford

Giovani Giurati del Vittorio Veneto Film Festival Award (Special Mention)
Toni Servillo

Primio Cinematografico Award
"Terramatta," Costanza Quatriglio

Green Drop Award
"The Fifth Season," Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth



Comments

  • Chris says:

    How does this rule help anyone? If the judges thought the rightful movie should get the Golden Lion then why shouldn't it? And sure, a top prize like that will help Pieta, but with this kind of press won't everyone involved feel like they just won on a technicality?

  • AD says:

    While its good to see PTA, Phoenix, and Hoffman get their due, the film itself losing on a technicality is pretty unfortunate. At least we all know which film was truly the best at the festival, thanks to the news of this sudden change getting out. My huge anticipation for The Master has only grown.

  • The Pope says:

    Don't buy it. Not for a second. The whole thing is puppy-poop.

    If Mann et al really wanted to give the Golden Lion to The Master, they would have and they would have complimented Kim-Ki Duk with Best Director instead. But you know what? They didn't. So they didn't. I've been on festival juries before and while nowhere near the scale of Venice, there is always, always, always someone on hand to explain the rules of the festival.

    As Chair, Mann would have known his responsibilities and if this is really a cock up, it only shows Mann in a bad light.