Venice Film Festival Winners Announced – Updating Live – Deadline

Refresh for latest…: The 79th Venice Film Festival officially draws to a close this evening, with prizewinners about to be announced inside the Sala Grande. The main jury, presided over by Julianne Moore, will present the Golden Lion along with a host of other awards before the hour is out (scroll below for the list which is being updated live).

It was a packed 10 days on the Lido with star power — and strong opinion — in abundance, even if there didn’t appear to be a major breakout as we’ve seen in recent years. Among the best reviewed films was Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. From Searchlight, it heralded McDonagh’s return to Venice after 2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri took the Best Screenplay prize before going on to myriad wins elsewhere and two Oscars.

Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All (MGM), starring Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet, and Laura Poitras’ All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Participant/HBO) made a mark. Netflix pics were a mixed bag with many praising Romain Gavras’ kinetic French-language Athena while Alejandro G Inarritu’s Bardo divided some. Andrew Dominik’s long-gestating Blonde finally had its debut with Deadline’s review widely positive.

Other notable titles include Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, Santiago Mitre’s Agentina 1985 and Jafar Panahi’s No Bears.

On the acting front, Cate Blanchett was lauded for her lead turn in Todd Field’s Tar from Focus while Brendan Fraser scored plaudits for Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale (A24).

Still, as with any festival, Venice can offer up surprises when it confers trophies. What’s certain is that any film that takes honors here means it’s not the last we’ll be hearing about it through awards season.

We’ll know more in just a little while so check back for updates.